Twice Blessed Shinobi
by Mrs.InsaneOne
Summary: One man's Greater Good will fall to pieces when his greatest pawn is whisked away as part of the plans his mother set into the motion the moment she'd learned of the dangers her son would face. Pairings TBD. Starts Pre-Hogwarts/Pre-Uchiha Massacre. Shinobi!Harry, Smart!Naruto&Harry, Prankster!Naruto&Harry, Father!Tenzou/Yamato, NotLazy!Kakashi, & Mentor!Kakashi
1. Startling Revelations

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Full Summary:** _In an Alternate Universe where Lily Evans was born a Seer, her only son's life will be drastically different from those of his Alternate Selves; including the identity of his biological father. One man's Greater Good will fall to pieces when his greatest pawn is whisked away as part of the plans his mother had set into the motion the moment she'd learned of the dangers her son would face upon her death. Pairings TBD. Starts Pre-Hogwarts/Pre-Uchiha Massacre. Shinobi!Harry, Smart!Naruto/Harry, Prankster!Naruto/Harry, Father!Tenzou/Yamato, NotLazy!Kakashi, &amp; Mentor!Kakashi_

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. The original plunny that birthed this story came from several back and forth discussions through PMs and basically boiled down to me saying:_

_You know all of those crossovers where Kakashi goes to England &amp; rescues Harry for one reason  
or another? Or he is somehow Harry's father because of a mission or what not? Well I shouldered  
Kakashi out and Tenzou/Yamato is now going in his place. He's going to hook up with Lily (of  
course) and Harry will be his son but he won't find out until he's sent back for another mission  
four years later. So this will be my third Mokuton Harry story..._

_Yeah, so that's how this story came about and I've had quite a bit of fun with it since it's the first story where I actually have Naruto &amp; Harry at roughly the same age instead of there being a large enough gap for one of them to adopt or take care of the other. The title of this story was also supposed to be just Twice Blessed until I recalled that there was another challenge out there from another author for an HP/PJO under that title and so added Shinobi to the title to make it stand out as different. _

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

**Twice Blessed Shinobi  
**Chapter One: Startling Revelations

_Monday, August 08, 1983, 03:57 AM  
Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey  
England_

Unseen by the sleeping residents of Privet Drive in Little Whinging of Surrey, England, a silent shadow traveled across the rooftops of the darkened houses beneath the shadowed face of the new moon. The dark form soon came to a rest in the shadows that bathed the roof of Number Five Privet Drive. As it hunkered down on the darkened rooftop, out of sight, it began to swell up and bulge outwards before the new growth split away from the form and promptly took on the exact likeness of the original as soon as it finished solidifying.

Once the new copy was fully formed, it quickly and silently made its way across the street to Number Four Privet Drive where it promptly slipped over the fence into the back yard and merged with the knarled oak tree that sat in the far left corner of the yard. Back on the roof of Number Five, the original shadow dropped down onto its belly as it crept forward until it had a clear view of Number Four's front yard. In less time than it takes an average human heart to beat twice, the dark form disappeared from view entirely the moment it was in place.

Soon to be twenty year old Tenzou (aka Mokuton no Tenzou and ANBU Guard Kuma) dispassionately watched the house where his target was visiting family for the next three hours. After the first two hours, the occupants of the house he was watching began stirring and Tenzou renewed the camouflage cloak he was hiding under to ensure that he would not be seen. At the end of the third hour, Tenzou received a report from the Moku Bunshin that he'd sent to monitor the back yard of the residence; a small child had just been ejected from the house.

Tenzou assumed the child to be the nephew of his target until his target's brother left for work and he saw the man's wife and son sending him off at the front door. A frown pulled at Tenzou's mouth beneath the porcelain mask he wore; there had been no indication in his mission briefing that there were two children living with the target's family. There had also been no mention of his target having a child of her own. That meant that the child was an unknown factor and Tenzou disliked unknown factors on general principle because they had a tendency of getting in the way of a mission's objective.

And while most people would discount the child as insignificant, Tenzou was a shinobi and he knew better than to ignore any discrepancies in his mission debriefing.

Still, the child's presence wasn't enough for him to abandon his mission and Tenzou silently instructed his clone to keep an eye on the child. Tenzou then returned his attention to the front of the house as he waited for some indication that his target was up and moving so he could observe her behavior in order to determine the best way to eliminate her. Another hour and a half passed before the hidden shinobi saw what he believed was his target moving about. Tenzou pulled out a pair of field binoculars and maneuvered them into position so he could get a good look at the woman to confirm that she was his target; Marjorie Dursley.

He had just started cataloging Miss Dursley's eating habits (making note of what foods she liked and disliked) when his clone relayed an urgent and completely unexpected message to him through the mental connection he shared with his Moku Bunshin, '_We've got a problem, boss; the unidentified child carries what appears to be a bastardized version of the Mokuton._'

Tenzou froze in shock as he tried to process what his clone had just told him and his brain blanked out for a full minute before he shook off his confusion and mentally ordered, '_Explain!_'

'_Precisely three minutes and seventeen seconds ago, the unknown child retreated to the neglected kitchen garden that sits in the back yard of Number Four. Once seated amidst the dead and dying plants, the child dug his hands into the dirt and released an undirected burst of chakra that renewed the life of a dying strawberry plant and facilitated the growth of the plant until it produced several large, ripe strawberries. The child is currently eating said strawberries._'

'_Describe the child to me,_' Tenzou instructed as he tried to rationalize what it was his clone had just reported.

'_The child is somewhere between two and three years of age, has messy dark brown hair, pale skin, vivid green eyes, and a jagged scar on his forehead._'

All thoughts of his mission fled from Tenzou's mind the moment his clone had mentioned the child had green eyes and without conscious thought, he abandoned his post on the roof of Number Five. He had just enough presence of mind to avoid dropping the camouflage jutsu that was hiding his presence as he crossed the street and leapt onto the plank fence that separated the Dursley's yard from their neighbor's yard. Tenzou crouched down on his precarious perch as his eyes swept the yard until they landed on the child in question and it felt as if a kunai pierced his heart when the little boy immediately met his gaze with vibrant emerald orbs.

It is said that a man never forgets his first lover; that he carries her memory forever in his heart for so long as he draws breath. Tenzou was no exception and as he stared into the verdant eyes of the child in front of him, his thoughts were transported back in time to the day when he'd encountered another set of vibrant green eyes.

It had been almost four year earlier; he'd been sent to England on an infiltration mission to gather information on a smuggling ring that had been importing illegal drugs, technological weapons, and stolen children into the Elemental Nations. Tenzou had just finished gathering the evidence that he'd been sent to find and was just waiting for his transport home to be arranged. In an effort to pass the time and throw off any suspicion his targets might have directed his way, Tenzou had spent his time mingling with the tourist crowds.

He'd ended up meeting a vivacious young redhead by the name of Lily Evans. She had been only three years older than the then sixteen year old Tenzou. Tenzou had thought her beautiful and after spending less than an hour in her company, he'd fallen in love with the older woman. The two of them had bonded over a shared love of architecture and gardening. They had spent all afternoon and all evening together before either of them had realized it and when Tenzou had reluctantly said his goodbyes, Lily had boldly invited herself back to his hotel room.

To this day, Tenzou didn't know why Lily had chosen him that day. All he knew was that she had been his first and he in turn had been her first. She'd disappeared before morning and there were some days when Tenzou wondered if she had been a ghost because her memory haunted him to this day.

He could still taste her kiss; her mouth tasting of the candied walnuts and roasted chestnuts they'd shared during their afternoon wanderings. He could still feel her callused hands ghosting across his chest. He could still smell the slightly musty scent of old parchment and rich loam that had clung to her skin. He could still hear the melodious sound of her laughter echoing all around him. And he could still see her emerald eyes alight with passion.

The spell that held Tenzou in place snapped when the little boy turned to face the backdoor of Number Four as a bad tempered bulldog was unceremoniously shoved outside. Tenzou was left reeling from the brief encounter, his memories all jumbled up and in disarray. Common sense reasserted itself just two seconds later as the shinobi recalled that he was currently in the middle of a mission and that he'd stupidly left his post like some green Genin. Cursing silently to himself, Tenzou ordered his clone to keep watch on both his target and the boy before he retreated from the area entirely.

He had some research to do.

* * *

_Thursday, August 11, 1983, 10:34 PM  
Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey  
England_

_There is no such thing as a coincidence,_ Tenzou thought to himself as he ghosted through the shadows towards Number Four Privet Drive for the second time in four days.

He'd spent half a day researching the Dursley family and he'd learned far more than he'd anticipated learning. He had been shocked to learn that Petunia Dursley (née Evans) was Lily Evans's older sister. He had not been aware that Lily had had an older sister; then again, it wasn't like he'd really known Lily all that well to begin with when one considers the fact that he'd spent less than twenty-four hours with her.

He'd then spent another two days researching one Lily Evans. It was at that point that he'd learned that Lily had married a man by the name of James Charlus Potter roughly two months after Tenzou had slept with her. Their son, one Haruo 'Harry' James Potter had been born seven months later; meaning the child had either been born prematurely or Lily had been pregnant before she'd married Potter. Tenzou suspected the latter. He also suspected that he was the child's father (not Lily's husband) due to the timing of the child's birth, the child's given name, and the child's ability to grow plants.

If it had been the timing alone, Tenzou would have dismissed the possibility; he had used protection during the night he'd spent with Lily. However, the fact that she'd named the child 'Haruo' was suspicious since Haruo had been the alias that Tenzou had used during his mission four years ago. Despite those two clues, it was the child's ability to bring new life to dying plants and speed up their growth process that made Tenzou suspect he was the child's father. That ability carried far too many similarities to the Mokuton for him to ignore.

Once he'd accepted the fact that he'd slipped up all those years ago, Tenzou had done further digging to find out why the child had been at the Dursley residence on the day he'd shown up to carry out his mission. The part of his heart that he'd given to Lily four years earlier had ached fiercely when he'd learned of Lily's death in a gas explosion nearly two years earlier. He had loved Lily despite the fact that he'd only known her for a single day. She'd had a presence about her that had called to his soul and he'd given her the only thing he could at the time; a small, untainted corner of his heart.

The news that her husband had perished at the same time didn't stir any feelings in the shinobi; the man had been both unknown and unimportant. Tenzou also refused to acknowledge the brief flare of jealousy he'd felt when he'd first learned that Potter had managed to woo and capture Lily's heart; something that he, himself, had been unable to do. Tenzou realistically knew that a relationship between himself and Lily Evens never would have worked out in the long run due who and what he was. That didn't stop him from wishing that he could have seen her one more time; if only to ask her why she'd not stayed long enough to say goodbye.

Tenzou had been unsurprised when he learned that Haruo had survived where his mother and stepfather had not; he'd already seen the child, after all. What was surprising was the fact that the then one and a half year old child had survived an explosion that had killed both of his parents. There were two distinct possibilities; one, the child had been far enough away from the explosion that he'd escaped the blast or two, the child's Kekkei Genkai had awakened and helped him to survive. Or possibly a combination of both.

The fact that the child had enough control over his Kekkei Genkai that he could use it to grow himself a snack indicated a strong likelihood that it had been a forced activation of the Mokuton he'd obviously inherited from Tenzou. And there was no doubt in Tenzou's mind that the child's ability was a mutated version of the Mokuton; he knew of no other Kekkei Genkai that could manipulate living plants. He also suspected that the mutation could be a result of the procedure that had granted him the Shodai's Mokuton in the first place.

Tenzou pushed his musings to the back of his mind as he slipped into the Dursleys' back yard and approached the oak tree where his clone had spent the past few days monitoring his target. And his son. The Moku Bunshin slipped free of the tree without a word before it headed around to the front of the house to merge with an ash tree in number six's front yard where it would be able to watch the front door and driveway. Tenzou then merged with the oak tree so that he could spend a couple of days watching his son with his own eyes while he waited for his target to leave the house.

He would not assassinate the woman in the same house where his son lived; he had no wish to traumatize his son on the off chance the child saw him kill the woman. He was not as worried about the Dursley boy; that child slept like a rock whereas his clone had reported that his unplanned progeny often woke up several times during the night.

That would also give him time to determine if his son actually lived with the Dursleys or if his target had somehow kidnapped the child in a ploy to protect herself from the man who'd hired Konoha to assassinate her. It wouldn't be the first time a spy had leaked sensitive information about a mission and there were only a handful of ANBU Operatives that were qualified to take missions in the Outer Countries. Tenzou was one such operative. Hatake Kakashi was another. Kakashi only handled those missions that came out of the Americas though while Tenzou mostly took care of those in Western Europe. There were another three or four individuals that handled the rest of the Outer Countries.

That wasn't even taking into account the shinobi that had been sent into the Outer Countries from the other hidden villages that were scattered throughout the Elemental Nations. So it wouldn't have been impossible for a spy to have determined exactly who would be assigned to handle the Dursley Assassination. Tenzou also didn't discount the possibility that his client had set him up in the first place. He'd have a chat with Mr. R. J. Lupin once he'd finished the mission in order to determine the truth. Until then, he'd observe his son and keep a close watch on his target.

Later that morning, Tenzou would witness his son grow a dwarf peach tree from a peach pit; further confirmation that the child wielded the Mokuton. He would also witness the uncalled for scolding that Petunia Dursley gave the young child when she saw the new tree in the backyard. He was less than pleased when Petunia's husband, Vernon, took an axe to the tree and cut it down right in front of the child all the while dressing the child down and driving him to tears.

* * *

_Tuesday, August 16, 1983, 05:17 AM  
Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey  
England_

Tenzou scowled beneath his ANBU mask as he returned to Number Four Privet Drive for what he hoped would be the last time. He knew he was breaking at least a dozen rules and more than a few laws at the moment but he didn't care; there was no way in hell that he was going to leave his son in the care of two incompetent fools. Those two idiots would completely cripple and ruin his son due to their prejudice and fear. If not for the presence of the Dursleys' young son, the twenty year old would have just killed them both to rid the world of their idiocy.

Had the two adults actually abused his son outright, he'd have killed them despite their son's presence.

Shoving his irritation over the treatment his son had received at the hands of Vernon and Petunia Dursley to the back of his mind, Tenzou focused on the present as he merged into the oak tree in the Dursleys' back yard for the last time. As he settled down to wait for his son to be sent outside by his aunt, Tenzou let his thoughts wander back to the final contact he'd had with his client.

Or more specifically, his missed chance to interrogate the civilian.

He'd followed Marjorie Dursley back to her house on the fourteenth and staged an accident; making it look like she'd slipped on a bit of dog urine and broke her neck falling down the stairs. The woman's obesity would make it fairly easy for the local police to accept her death as the accident it appeared to be rather than the assassination it was. Even if an investigation was launched, there was no evidence that would refute the apparent accident; Tenzou had taken extra care to cover his tracks this time around due to the discovery of his son.

In fact, the only evidence of criminal activity that the authorities could potentially find was the evidence that Tenzou had planted regarding the illegal dog fighting club that the woman ran in her backyard using the vicious dogs that she raised.

The moment he'd exited the woman's house, an owl had dropped down to present him with a letter addressed to his code name. The moment he'd collected the letter, the owl had disappeared. The concept of using messenger birds wasn't all that strange and Tenzou had taken the bird's appearance in stride; though he had been slightly surprised to learn that messenger birds were still used by civilians in the Outer Countries when he knew that their advanced technology was far more efficient. The letter itself had merely contained directions to an old shack in the middle of nowhere.

Tenzou had gone to that shack hoping to speak with his client. Instead, he'd found another letter thanking him for his efficiency and a briefcase holding the promised payment for the mission. The most disturbing part had been the fact that the client had known the moment he'd finished the job. That made him wonder why Mr. Lupin hadn't dealt with the woman himself; since the man was obviously skilled enough to keep tabs on an ANBU Operative without giving himself away – how else would he have known when to send the owl with the first message?

The twenty year old couldn't help but wonder why the man had hired Konoha to perform the assassination. His thoughts then turned to his previously unknown son and he couldn't quite shake the feeling that Marjorie Dursley's assassination and his son's presence were somehow linked. It seemed very unlikely that Mr. Lupin wouldn't have known about the presence of a second child within the Dursley household. That made the glaring omission of any mention of said child in the mission debriefing suspect.

To what purpose though? What benefit was gained out of leaving out any mention of the child?

_To force me to research the boy in the hopes that I would learn about his relationship to me?_ Tenzou wondered as he shifted within the confines of the oak so he could get a clearer view of Number Four's kitchen when he noted the slight lightening of the sky; indicating that dawn was close at hand. _To what end though? Why would a client care about the child of a stranger? How would the client have even known the child was my son in the first place? Unless… was Mr. Lupin a friend of Lily's? If that was the case; why bother with all of the misdirection?_

There was something he was missing; some vital piece of information that would allow him to piece together the entire puzzle so that he could see the complete picture. More than ever, Tenzou wished he'd been able to interrogate his client in order to gather the information he needed to figure out exactly what was going on. The sneaky man hadn't even given Tenzou a way to track him down and he didn't have enough information on the man to hunt him down the hard way. At least not without risking the Hokage and Kasai labeling him as a missing nin because he missed his transport home.

Shoving that matter out of his mind for now, Tenzou redirected his mental energies towards a far more pressing concern as he caught sight of a little brunette stumbling into the kitchen for a drink of water and asked himself, _How in the hell am I supposed to convince my son to come with me without just kidnapping him outright?_

In the end, Tenzou didn't even have to try to convince the child to come with him; the child was unhappy enough that he willingly agreed to go a perfect stranger. Of course, said perfect stranger was his father but the child didn't know that.

Tenzou had still been in the process of making and rejecting possible plans when Petunia had kicked little Haruo out of the house with an order not to touch any of the plants. Tenzou had to stifle the urge to slit the woman's throat for her callus treatment of his son. He then turned his attention to the tiny waif he'd sired in order to ignore the woman. Tenzou felt his heart ache the moment he saw the tears in Haruo's green eyes; his son was utterly dejected and depressed due to Petunia's restrictions on the use of his Kekkei Genkai.

Tenzou used his ANBU Root training to block out his emotions lest he do something stupid and focused his attention on his son's subdued form as the child made his way to the garden shed and stuffed himself between the shed and the wooden fence in order to hide from his aunt. The shinobi couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to speak to the child since he'd been wondering how he was going to approach the boy without revealing himself to Petunia. Shifting his body downwards, Tenzou transferred himself into the dirt and silently burrowed his way to his son's current location.

When Tenzou popped his head out of the ground just three minutes later, he found himself caught in his son's green eyed gaze once more after the boy turned to look in his direction at the same time as he broke through the surface. Tenzou smiled beneath the mask he wore; his son was apparently a chakra sensor like him – further proof that the boy was his child since that was one ability that Tenzou had been born with (unlike the Mokuton). Haruo then tipped his head to one side in confusion as he reached out to touch Tenzou's ANBU mask with one hand.

"_Kitty…?_" Haruo asked as his little fingers danced over the porcelain mask with utmost care.

"_No, not a kitty; it's just a mask,_" Tenzou replied around a laugh. He then grew serious as he asked, "_Why do you cry, little one?_"

"_Aunt Petunia is mean. She won't let me grow the plants,_" Haruo petulantly replied as an adorable scowl curled his lips into a pout. "_Aunt Petunia says it's not right. She said only freaks make plants grow all at once._"

"_Do you want to grow the plants?_"

"_Yes._"

"_Would you like me to take you to a place where you can grow as many plants as you like?_"

"_Can I grow trees too?_"

"_Yes._"

"_And I can eat the fruit?_"

"_Yes._"

"_Will I be a freak there too?_"

"_No, you are not the only one that can make trees grow,_" Tenzou replied as he used a small burst of chakra to grow a tiny sapling right beside the fence. "_I can grow trees too. If you come with me, I can teach you how to grow other things out of wood; like houses, walls, and clones._"

"_What's a clone?_"

Tenzou pushed himself out of the ground to free his hands so he could grow a miniature clone in Haruo's likeness; the clone intended to play decoy so that Haruo's absence wouldn't be noticed until long after they had left England. The green eyed boy gasped in surprise as the wooden clone waved to him and Tenzou chuckled to himself as he watched the kid poke his wooden twin a couple of times.

"_You can teach me how to grow clones too?_"

"_Once you are old enough, yes; but there is much you would need to learn before you are ready to learn how to grow clones,_" Tenzou agreed as he offered his hand to his son. "_Will you come with me?_"

Haruo stared at him with fathomless green eyes for a long minute (the child almost appearing to weigh and measure his soul) before he shyly nodded and grabbed hold of Tenzou's outstretched hand. Tenzou smiled beneath his mask; that had been much easier than he had thought it would be. He also felt as if a weight had been lifted from his back as he had half feared the boy would reject his offer; which would have made things far more difficult for Tenzou since there was no way he was going to leave his son behind now that he had been made aware of his existence.

He didn't have to worry about that now though; his son wished to leave and that was all that mattered.

The moment Haruo's hand took hold of his hand, Tenzou gently pulled the boy to him and tucked him against his chest with one hand while he silently gave his clone its walking orders. He then sank back into the ground with his son and began making his way out of Surrey so he could catch his ride home. Tenzou would make only two detours on his way back to London; the first to purchase two sets of clean clothes for his son and the second to purchase the two of them something to eat.

Traveling through beneath the dirt the way he was, Tenzou never noticed the amber tinted blue eyes that had watched the entire scene play out from the roof of the house that sat directly behind Number Four Privet Drive. Of course, even if the shinobi had left the area on foot, he never would have seen the man. Invisibility cloaks were near impossible to see through unless you were smart enough to charm a pair of glasses or a glass eye to see through them.

A smile graced the lips of the unseen man; his final promise to Lily had been kept. Her son was safely in the custody of his father and Dumbledore had been removed from the equation.

Now he just had to work on fulfilling his final promise to James and find a way to get a certain mutt out of the slammer.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Haruo – Japanese boy's name meaning man of spring  
Kuma – bear

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	2. Added Complications

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Two: Added Complications

_August 26, 1983, 04:23 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Tenzou stopped on a wide tree branch as the walls of Konoha rose up in front of him so that he could check on his sleeping son and make certain the regulation ANBU cloak he was wearing covered the child completely. The last ten days of travel had been hard on the child but he'd not complained once. In fact, aside from the short conversation that they'd had on the day Tenzou had taken the boy from his aunt's house, Haruo hadn't said more than ten words; he'd been far more interested in taking in the world around them as they traveled. Tenzou had expected his son to at least question him about where they were going and when they would get there but he hadn't.

Tenzou didn't know if it was normal for a young child to be so quiet. He didn't know much about children at all. And now that he had his son he wasn't sure what he was going to do with him. He didn't even know the first thing about raising a child.

Letting out a silent sigh, Tenzou adjusted his cloak and began moving once more. Just before he reached the towering curtain walls that enclosed and protected Konoha, Tenzou turned north and skirted the wall as he made his way towards one of the hidden ANBU entrances. It only took him twenty minutes to reach the entrance and Tenzou spent another five minutes making certain that he hadn't been followed before he slipped around a tree and between two large boulders before he used a burst of chakra to release the barrier seal that theoretically prevented non ANBU entities from utilizing the unguarded entrance.

A second burst of chakra opened the trap door that led to an underground passage that would allow him to travel under the wall. As soon as the passage had opened, Tenzou dropped down inside the underground tunnel and released a third and final burst of chakra that would close the door and reset the barrier over the entrance. The seemingly simple system was actually a deadly trap in disguise and any invader that tried to enter the same way would find himself crushed between the two boulders. Only those carrying ANBU tattoos or being escorted by a member of the ANBU Corps could safely use that particular entrance.

As the hidden trap door slid shut above his head, a line of emergency lights flickered on to light the short tunnel. Tenzou gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the dimly lit passage before he began navigating the complex maze of tunnels that ran beneath the village; yet another safety measure to prevent those that circumvented the barrier trap above from easily sneaking into the village since it was very easy to get lost in the tunnel network if you didn't know the correct paths to take at each intersection.

Tenzou was intimately familiar with these particular tunnels. He'd spent the last eight years navigating the extensive network that ran beneath the entire village. He knew every dead end, every trick corridor, and every hidden trap. He'd also diligently seeded the correct pathways with the wooden tracking seeds he made from his chakra so that he could run through the network blindfolded and not get lost. No one else could following his tracking seeds; the amount of chakra he saturated each seed was so small that even the best of sensors would have trouble finding one of them.

The only reason why he could find his seeds was because of the connection he shared with the wood he grew from his body. That connection was what made them the perfect tracking aid; slip one into a person's clothes or into to their food and he'd be able to track them no matter what tricks they used to throw off their pursuit. There was just enough sentience in each seed that they would lodge themselves into the tissue at the base of the esophagus where it connected to the stomach. The reason for that was to prevent the seeds from being expelled or digested within twenty four hours of being swallowed.

Tenzou had slipped one of said tracking seeds into his son's food that first day when he'd collected the boy and replaced the seed after the first seven days (which is about how long the chakra in the seed lasted once it was swallowed). He would need to replace it again in four days. Tenzou was not about to take any risks or chances with his son and he was determined not to lose the boy when he'd only just found him. And the one thing he did know about children was that they tended to wander off and get lost; he'd seen hundreds of missions requests come in for missing children for just that reason.

He also knew that children were often considered soft targets because they were easily caught and used against their families for any number of reasons. And Tenzou was not about to let one of his enemies get their hands on his son through his negligence. Nor was he going to allow Shimura Danzou to get his hands on the impressionable child and use the child to pull Tenzou back under his thumb or worse, turn the boy into an emotionless weapon. He also wouldn't put it past the cold-hearted bastard to strike out at Tenzou by handing his son over to Orochimaru as a bargaining chip.

Tenzou froze as soon as that thought passed through his mind.

That was one threat that he hadn't considered when he'd made the decision to take his son.

Tenzou knew that Orochimaru would go to great lengths to kidnap his son if the traitor was to ever learn that Tenzou had both survived the Mokuton Experiments while gaining the ability to use the Mokuton and produced a son that carried the vaunted Kekkei Genkai. And while Tenzou was confident that he could keep Haruo out of Danzou's hands with some careful political maneuvering, he was not arrogant enough to think he was capable of going toe to toe with Orochimaru.

And it was far too late to put the kid back where he'd got him from.

Not that Tenzou would have considered that option even if it had been a viable solution.

Tenzou slowly continued on his way as he considered the problem from every angle and ran through the options that would have the best chance of seeing his son grow up healthy, strong, and most importantly out of reach of the likes of Danzou and Orochimaru. Sadly, none of the viable options involved Tenzou personally raising his son since he sincerely doubted that the current ANBU Commander or the Sandaime Hokage would allow him to disappear for the next seven to nine years just to raise his son in secret.

Sighing, Tenzou resigned himself to watching his son grow from afar as he phased through the earthen tunnel wall and rose up through the floor of the ANBU Commander's office within the ANBU Facility. A heartbeat later, Tenzou was standing in front of a large man wearing a featureless white mask with a trio of stylized flames that started at his chin and spiraled up and out to his cheeks with the middle one reaching his forehead. The ANBU Commander, code named Kasai, glanced up from the stack of reports he'd been reviewing the moment Tenzou had stepped free of the floor.

"Welcome back, Kuma; I trust your mission was successful?"

"Hai, Kasai-sama," Tenzou replied automatically. "However, there was a minor complication that cropped up during the course of the mission."

"Explain," Kasai ordered crisply as he set aside the report he'd been perusing in order to give Tenzou his complete attention.

"Upon arriving at the current location of my mark, I discovered that the intel I had been provided by the client had been incomplete and that there was an unaccounted for presence living with the family of the target. Further investigation led to a startling discovery about the unknown child that made me question the motives of both my client and the target. I was unable to question my client about the matter and questioning the target was not possible without compromising the mission. After much consideration, I chose to deal with the situation in the only way I could."

"Stop stalling and just get to the point already, Kuma," Kasai growled when Tenzou trailed off.

Tenzou mentally sighed as he reached up to remove his cloak to reveal Haruo. Kasai's reaction would have been funny under different circumstances but the sound of the older man's knees smacking the desk and the sight of the reports on his desk going flying had Tenzou mentally cringing. The string of verbal curses the man let loose would have blistered his ears if he hadn't heard worse during the course of his shinobi career. At least his son had slept through the man's diatribe.

"Give me one damned good reason why I shouldn't hand you over to the T and I Department to have your loyalty tested for pulling such an asinine stunt," Kasai instructed gruffly once he'd calmed down.

"It is better if I show you, Kasai-sama," Tenzou replied before he gently shook his son awake. Haruo wearily opened his eyes just a few seconds later and glanced up at him with sleep confused eyes. The moment that Tenzou had his son's attention, he addressed the boy in English, "_Haruo, I need you to show my commander how you grow the trees._"

Haruo reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes before he craned his head around to stare at the masked Kasai for a brief moment before he returned his emerald gaze to Tenzou and tiredly nodded. The three year old then searched the rather plain room they were in before he scrunched up his nose in confusion as he blurted out, "_There's no plants here for me to grow._"

"_I have a seed you can grow,_" Tenzou replied as he fished an old plum pit he'd been saving for the demonstration he knew Haruo would need to provide at some point out of his pocket.

As soon as Haruo accepted the seed from him, Tenzou set his son down on the floor and crouched down to use a weak doton jutsu to form a loose pile of dirt on the floor. He then stepped back to give the child room to grow the tree and make it clear to his boss that he was not helping his son in any way. Tenzou then watched as Haruo planted the plum pit in the center of the pile before he buried his hands in the loose soil as he released an uncontrolled burst of chakra that immediately triggered the seed's growth.

In less than five minutes, a fully grown plum tree stood in the center of Kasai's office with dozens of perfectly ripened red plums weighing down a number of branches. Tenzou smiled proudly behind his mask over his son's accomplishment as he reached up and plucked two of the newly grown fruits from the tree and handed them to Haruo. He then plucked a third and tossed it to a silent and undoubtedly stunned Kasai.

"And that is why I brought him with me," Tenzou explained as Kasai instinctively caught the thrown fruit. "My research revealed that the child is the son of a woman that I had had sexual relations with upon the completion of my first mission in England four years earlier. His ability to manipulate plant matter in combination to his given name of Haruo (which was the code name I had used during that first mission) led me to the conclusion that the protection I had used that night failed; meaning that the child is my son."

"Are you implying that the child's mother just let you walk away with her son?" Kasai demanded as he carefully set down the plum he'd been holding in his hand and glared at Tenzou from behind his mask.

"No, his mother died in a gas explosion along with his stepfather on October thirty-first of nineteen eighty-one. Haruo was then placed in the custody of his mother's sister where Haruo was moderately mistreated and neglected due to the mutated Mokuton that he carries. I suspect that my client was aware of my connection to Haruo since my target was related to the child's aunt through marriage. I would have questioned the client in regards to the child but I did not make physical contact with him at any point during the mission and did not have enough information or time to track him down personally once the mission had been completed."

"And what, pray tell, are you going to do with the child now?"

"I had originally intended to raise him myself so that I could train him to use his Mokuton properly but doing so would place far too large of a target on the child's head if certain individuals were to learn of his connection to me," Tenzou replied as he dropped his gaze back to his son who was contentedly devouring the plums he'd grown. "I was hoping that you would be willing to help me safeguard Haruo until he was old enough for me to start his training."

"Getting a little ahead of yourself there, aren't you?" Kasai asked as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "After all, you only assume that the child is biologically your son based upon a few random facts and a neat trick that mimics the Mokuton. For all you know, he might be a sleeper agent that had been strategically placed to lure you into bringing him back to the village and his connection to you entirely fabricated."

"True but a simple blood test would determine whether or not he is my son and he is far too young to be a sleeper agent; it takes years to train an effective sleeper agent and the earliest they could have started that training was two years of age – meaning he only would have had a single year of training."

"Then how do you explain his ability to use his Kekkei Genkai at such a young age?" Kasai demanded in return.

"I suspect that he awoke the Mokuton during the gas explosion that killed his mother and stepfather since he was the only survivor. As for the limited control he has over the ability, his former guardians frequently withheld food and Haruo learned to use the Mokuton to grow his own food – influencing fruit bearing plants such as strawberries and tomatoes and not just trees (which is something my Mokuton is incapable of accomplishing); a fact which only earned him further punishments. And his control over the ability is almost non-existent once he applies a burst of chakra to his target."

"It's good to know that you didn't completely take leave of your senses," Kasai groused as he turned to watch Haruo as the boy stretched up to grab yet another plum from the tree. Tenzou reached out to help Haruo only for his hand to drop back to his side when the tree lowered a branch of its own accord. "That's an interesting trick. I've never seen your trees do that once they were fully grown."

"That's because the trees I grow don't move independently unless I pour more chakra into them," Tenzou replied with a thoughtful frown. "It's possible that he retains a connection to the trees that he grows in the same way that I retain a connection to my clones. I already know he's a chakra sensor like me."

"Get your boy to clean up my floor," Kasai ordered as he gestured to the plum tree that was taking up a good portion of the room. "I'll fetch Tokage and have him run a blood test to determine if the child is your son. I'm also going to send for Inoichi; the boy will need to be screened for potential mind traps regardless of who his parents were. Once his parentage is confirmed or refuted; we will discuss possible options."

"Hai, Kasai-sama," Tenzou stated with more than a little relief; he'd been half afraid that Kasai would make him send Haruo back to his relatives without bothering to run any tests. He then turned his attention back to his son to find the child making a pyramid out of a pile of plums that had somehow ended up on the floor. Crouching down beside the boy, Tenzou tapped him on the shoulder and stated, "_My commander has seen all he needed to see but now he would like to have his office back. Do you know how to ungrow your trees or do you need me to teach you?_"

"_You're going to make me chop it down?_" Haruo asked in horror as his eyes welled up with tears and his lower lip trembled as a betrayed expression slowly crept onto his face.

"_No, I need you to put the tree back into the seed so that we can find a better place to plant it,_" Tenzou corrected quickly in order to assuage the boy's fears. Haruo blinked at him in surprised confusion before he glanced between Tenzou and the tree several times. "_Here, let me show you._"

Tenzou then pulled out one of his tracking seeds and held it in his hand as he grew a small sapling from the seed before he made it shrink back down into a seed. He did that a couple of more times while he explained exactly what it was he was doing to his son, "_It's just like growing the tree but instead of feeding your chakra into the tree, you're pulling the chakra out of the tree so that the tree collapses back into a seed. It helps if you can picture the tree shrinking back into the seed. Now you try it._"

Tenzou handed a tracking seed to Haruo and walked him through the process several times while he guided him using a small thread of chakra so the child could feel what it felt like to pull his chakra out of the sapling. After fifteen minutes of practice, Tenzou helped Haruo to ungrow the plum tree before he fished the seed out of the dirt and gave it to Haruo to keep so he could plant it somewhere else as promised. The poor kid was utterly exhausted by that time and Tenzou made a mental note to teach the kid some strengthening exercises to increase his stamina. Chakra control exercises were going to be a necessity as well.

Further contemplation of Haruo's future training was disrupted by the arrival of Tokage (one of six medics dedicated to the ANBU Corps – his mask accented with greenish brown scales) and Yamanaka Inoichi (who was in charge of Konoha's Mental Wellness Program and a part-time member of the Torture and Interrogation Department). Tenzou automatically scooped Haruo up off the floor as he rose back to his feet and turned to face the pair as Kasai addressed them from behind his desk.

"Tokage; I need you to run a full scan on the child Kuma brought back with him. He'll need to have blood work done as well; including a paternity test."

"Who is the suspected father?" Tokage inquired as he coated his hands with green healing chakra and reached for Haruo's head to initiate the diagnostic scan.

Haruo took one look at Tokage's glowing green hands and screamed bloody murder to the shock of all four men. Tenzou had a hard time holding onto the squirming three year old as the child tried to wriggle his way free. It would take him nearly twenty minutes to calm the child down enough to find out what it was that had terrified him and that was mostly because Tokage dropped his hands and stopped channeling chakra; Tenzou's inexperience as a parent clear as day.

"_What is wrong, Haruo? What are you so afraid of?_"

"_Green lights are bad,_" Haruo stated in between sniffling sobs as he turned to meet Tenzou's gaze with haunted green eyes that shimmered with tears. "_The bad man hurt mummy with the green light. Mummy wouldn't wake after the green light touched her. The bad man used the green light on Daddy Prongs first._" The child then reached up to press a hand to the odd scar on his forehead. "_The green light hurt me too. And it made the bad man explode into dust but mummy still didn't wake and Daddy Prongs wouldn't come wake mummy even though I cried for him._"

"Well?" Kasai demanded a moment later; the older man's English more than a little rusty due to how little he used it and how many languages he'd learned through the years.

"Haruo is under the impression that green lights cause pain and that it was green light that killed his mother and stepfather," Tenzou replied automatically as he continued to hold Haruo's gaze.

"I thought you said they died in a gas explosion?"

"The cause of death listed in their public records was a gas explosion," Tenzou stated as he frowned in response to the contradictory information. "It's possible that the public records were doctored to hide the truth if the couple had been murdered by an unknown nukenin. Or the explosion listed as their cause of death could be the result of a jutsu gone wrong since Haruo stated the man who killed his mother was incinerated in an explosion. His exact words were that the green light made the bad man explode into dust."

"Or the child simply didn't understand what was happening at the time," Inoichi interjected as he studied the still upset three year old. "How old is the child? And how old was he when his mother and stepfather were killed?"

"My son is three and he was roughly fifteen months old at the time of their death," Tenzou replied; an answer that had both Inoichi and Tokage staring at him in disbelief due to his claim that he was the child's father – both men well aware of whom Tenzou was due to their professions. Tenzou ignored them for a moment as he returned his attention to Haruo in an effort to assure the distraught child that Tokage would not harm him with healing chakra.

"_Haruo, you don't have to be afraid of all healing chakra,_" Tenzou stated before he held one hand out towards the medic and switched back to Japanese for a moment. "Tokage, could you scan my hand to show Haruo that your scan will not harm him?"

Tokage complied with his request; this time taking hold of Tenzou's hand before pulling on his healing chakra. Haruo jerked in Tenzou's arm but settled down after a few minutes when it became obvious that Tenzou was not being hurt by the healing chakra. The three year old soon grew curious enough that he reached down to touch Tokage's glowing green hands with trembling fingers. After a minute, Tokage shifted his hands from Tenzou's hand to Haruo's hand and the child let out a soft giggle before he clammed right up.

The masked medic then slowly transferred one hand to Haruo's forehead in order to perform the full diagnostic scan that Kasai had originally requested. The soothing warmth of healing chakra combined with Haruo's earlier exhaustion soon lulled the boy back to sleep in Tenzou's arms. Tenzou let out a sigh of relief; he had not been entirely certain that his ploy to ease the boy's fears would work.

"So, where did you find the child and what makes you think that he's your son?" Inoichi inquired curiously as he moved closer to study the sleeping child. "And why exactly am I here?"

"The gaki uses a bastardized form of the Mokuton," Kasai answered before Tenzou could even open his mouth. "Kuma picked him up in the Outer Countries and dragged him back with him. As for why you are here; I need you to confirm that the child's mind has not been tampered with once Tokage is finished. It would also be prudent to view the child's memories to find out exactly what it is he remembers of his mother and stepfather's deaths."

"Wakatta."

"While you're waiting for Tokage to finish; you can give Kuma a head check because the complete loss of all sense and sanity that led him to steal a child from his guardians has me concerned."

Tenzou nearly cringed over Kasai's assessment of his actions. He couldn't exactly refute his commander's observations though; if only because he himself was still questioning his decision to basically kidnap his son from his aunt. That sort of impulsive behavior was something a rookie would do and Tenzou was not a rookie. Knowing that any protest on his half would only make him look bad, Tenzou transferred his sleeping son into Tokage's arms and followed Inoichi over to the unoccupied chair that Kasai kept in the corner of his office.

Once seated, Tenzou pulled off his ANBU mask so that Inoichi could activate his Mind Delving Technique while he kept his eyes on Tokage and his son. He barely even noticed the uncomfortable tugging sensation of the older man digging through his recent memories; his attention firmly focused on the medic and Haruo. A slight frown would pull the corners of his mouth down the instant that he realized that the diagnostic scan Tokage was performing on the child was taking far too long.

Apparently Kasai thought it was taking far too long as well as barely another five seconds had passed before he was demanding, "Aren't you finished scanning the gaki yet, Tokage?"

"No, I'm trying to get a read on the strange energy radiating from the scar on the child's forehead," Tokage replied without looking up from Haruo. "The signature of the energy is very similar to the child's but at the same time it's not; a clear indication that it does not belong there. The feel of the energy is rather foul too; tainted and twisted when compared to the child's energy."

"Do you recognize the chakra signature?" Kasai inquired and Tenzou mentally winced in response to the glare that his commander directed at him in response to Tokage's revelation.

"No; and the energy is not chakra. It's similar to chakra but at the same time not."

"What do you mean?" Tenzou asked as Inoichi ended his jutsu and stepped back.

"The energy radiating from both the child and the child's scar feel incomplete; whatever the energy is, it's not a blending of a person's mental and physical energies. The child's chakra is actually much harder to feel beneath the overpowering weight of the secondary energy but it's still there. The tainted energy clinging to his scar is much easier to pick out; which is how I was able to notice it in the first place."

"Do you know what the energy is meant to do? And are you able to determine if the untainted energy is something the child is actually producing or could it be something that was placed upon the child by another individual?" Kasai inquired as drummed the fingers of his left hand on his desk in agitation.

"I do not know the original purpose of the tainted energy but I sincerely doubt that whatever it was intended to do was in any way pleasant. The second energy signature is most definitely coming from the child; it radiates from his heart and flows through his veins."

"Would it be possible for you to remove the tainted energy?"

"Yes, I believe so; the tainted energy is completely separate from the child's secondary energy and chakra pathways. In fact, the deeper scan I just performed detected a third source of energy encapsulating the tainted energy and it's that third signature that's very similar to the child's; not the tainted signature. I only missed it earlier due to how similar it is to the child's energy."

"Before you make an attempt to extract the tainted energy, I want Inoichi to view the boy's memories to determine when and how that tainted energy was placed on the child. I don't want to risk this escalating into a bigger mess than it already is," Kasai stated as he pushed himself up onto his feet. "While Inoichi is doing that, you can take care of the blood work that needs to be done and I will prepare one of the training rooms so that you can perform the extraction behind a barrier to contain the energy in the event that it tries to escape or attack the moment it has been removed. Kuma; you can bring the boy to Training Room Seventeen once Inoichi and Tokage have finished with him."

"Hai, Kasai-sama," Tenzou agreed as he slipped his ANBU mask back on his face.

Tokage finished the diagnostic scan just a few seconds later and returned the still sleeping Haruo to Tenzou's arms and the Mokuton user carefully shifted his son into a more comfortable position. The medic then removed a pair of plastic wrapped syringes, several empty blood vials, and a length of rubber tubing from his utility pouch. He then opened the first syringe and prepared to draw blood from the three year old. Once he'd drawn several vials of blood from Haruo (so that he could do a complete screening of the child's blood on top of the paternity test), Tokage drew a single vial of blood from Tenzou.

The medic left the room immediately after that and Inoichi took Tokage's place as he prepared to enter the child's mind in order to view his memories. Neither shinobi were prepared for a wave of something to lash out at them and leave behind trails of stinging welts wherever they had contact with the child the moment Inoichi activated his jutsu. Inoichi got off lucky; it was only his left hand that was covered in welts while Tenzou's hands, arms, and chest were all stinging.

"What the hell was that?" Inoichi wondered as he inspected his injured hand.

"You're guess is as good as mine," Tenzou retorted as he tried to ignore the light stinging fire from the welts on his chest as he shifted Haruo to ease the weight on his arms. "The energy almost felt like Haruo's chakra signature but at the same time far different. I wonder if that was the energy that Tokage mentioned. Whatever it was, it was unpleasant."

"You don't say?" Inoichi sarcastically asked as he shook out his left hand a couple of times before he gingerly placed the hand back on Haruo's forehead once more. "Brace yourself; I'm going to try a second time."

This time, both shinobi ended up with blisters on top of the stinging welts and Inoichi had the added displeasure of a severe headache due to the way he'd been shoved right back out of Haruo's mind a second time. Tenzou felt rather worried about the way the child was reacting to Inoichi's attempts to view his memories; the twenty year old worried that Kasai would take that to mean the child was a threat.

"Okay, there's a few possibilities as to what's happening," Inoichi muttered as he cradled his aching head with his uninjured hand. "The child potentially has some sort of seal that protects his mind with a rather advance barrier or the child has a form of natural resistance that protects his mind. It's also possible that the tainted energy is responsible for the attacks since the presence of the energy is rather close to the child's brain. I'm going to attempt to use the Shintenshin no Jutsu this time and see if it triggers the same reaction."

"One moment," Tenzou instructed as he handed his son over to the blond before he grew a child sized table with rails so he could avoid getting caught up in the backlash a third time.

"That's probably a good idea; how badly were you injured?"

"No worse than your hand; only spread over a considerably larger area. Did you wish me to grow you a chair to sit in?"

"No, I'll kneel on the floor; that way, I won't fall far if I'm thrown right back out of his mind."

Tenzou nodded, dropped the height of the table several feet, and then moved around to the other side of the table so he would not be in Inoichi's way. The Mokuton user kept a close watch on Haruo as Inoichi initiated the Shintenshin no Jutsu. He saw the Jounin's body go limp for a split second the moment the jutsu was activated and less than two seconds later, he felt a pulse of energy from Haruo's body. In the wake of the short pulse, Inoichi was thrown back into his own body and the older man let out a pained grunt as he toppled over and curled up in on himself.

"Are you alright, Inoichi-san? Do you need me to fetch a medic?" Tenzou asked with some concern as hurried back around the table to check on the man.

"I'll be fine in a bit," Inoichi eventually rasped out. "It wasn't a physical attack this time. You might as well take the child up to Training Room Seventeen; I'm not going to try entering his mind again until he's awake and the tainted energy in his scar has been extracted. I suspect that I've been given all of the warnings I'm going to get."

"I will inform Kasai of the failed attempts. I will also leave a clone with you in the event that any complications arise from your forceful ejections from Haruo's mind."

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Gaki – brat  
Hai – yes  
Kasai – flame  
Shintenshin no Jutsu – Mind Body Change Technique  
Wakatta – I understand/understood

**Notes:**

The tree's reaction to Harry/Haruo stretching for the plum is entirely due to his magic and that ability is loosely based upon Lily's ability to make flowers bloom and close with her magic before she attended Hogwarts (taken from Snape's memories in book seven). I used that memory to imply that Lily had an affinity towards plants (earth) that was passed on to Harry and further enhanced by his Mokuton. A more in depth explanation on how and why that is possible will be provided within the story.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	3. Confirmations and Warnings

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Three: Confirmations and Warnings

_August 26, 1983, 06:07 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Tenzou stepped into Training Room Seventeen with his son once again hidden beneath his ANBU cloak. Kasai briefly glanced in his direction before he returned to drawing the necessary barrier seals onto the walls of the training room. He watched his commander work for a few seconds before he strode to the center of the room and grew another table to set Haruo on. Kasai finished drawing out the seals just a couple of minutes later.

"What did Inoichi find?"

"Nothing, sir; he was unable to view Haruo's memories," Tenzou reported as he locked away his personal feelings. "He attempted to initiate a Mind Delving twice and both times, he was rebuffed from Haruo's mind and we were physically attacked by the strange energy that Tokage had mentioned." He paused for a moment to roll up his sleeve in order to show Kasai the welts and blisters that still hadn't faded. "The first attack produced stinging welts and the second attack produced the blisters; all injuries inflicted appearing only where we had direct contact with Haruo at the time."

"Inoichi attempted to use the Shintenshin no Jutsu after the first two failed attempts but that too failed. The attempt left Inoichi in considerable pain but did not inflict any further physical wounds. He suspects the secondary energy could be protecting Haruo's mind (whether that protection is natural or not is unclear) or that the tainted energy is interfering because of its proximity to his brain. Inoichi stated he would try again once Haruo is awake and the tainted energy has been removed."

"The more I learn about the boy, the more certain I am that you made a mistake in bringing him here."

"My son is not a threat," Tenzou stated with a certainty he couldn't explain. "I felt no maliciousness in the three attacks and the injuries inflicted were not life threatening nor were they truly crippling. The final attack on Inoichi was not a physical attack and I was not harmed despite the fact that I was standing right beside Haruo at the time. It's entirely possible that Inoichi's attempts to enter my son's minds were seen as an attack by his unconscious mind and that would make the attacks defensive in nature, not offensive."

"You have no proof…" Kasai started to counter only to cut off when the door to the training room opened and Tokage stepped into the room carrying a thin sheaf of paper. "Do you have the results of the paternity test?"

"Yes; the child is Tenzou's son. He's also far behind on his childhood immunizations and mildly anemic; the latter entirely due to an insufficient intake of iron in his diet. Was Inoichi able to find any clues regarding the purpose of the tainted energy?"

"No, Inoichi was unable to view Haruo's memories; he speculated that it was either Haruo's secondary energy protecting my son's mind or the tainted energy interfering due to its proximity to Haruo's brain."

"Were either of you injured?"

"Yes, the first failed attempt produced stinging welts and the second one produced blisters," Tenzou replied as he held his arm out for the medic to scan. "The welts and blisters are more irritating than painful though."

"They are also full of your son's secondary energy," Tokage stated as he carefully scanned the blister covered welts on Tenzou's uncovered arm. "Hold still; I'm going to have to flush the foreign energy from your injuries before I can treat them."

Tenzou ignored the influx of healing chakra that sank into his skin. He also ignored the way the blisters and welts stung sharply as the healing chakra pushed at them. Instead, he watched his son's face as a fragment of the conversation he'd had with Lily Evans four years earlier rose up from the depths of his memories.

"_Do you believe in fate, Haruo?" Lily asked as they meandered through the crowded streets._

"_I believe that every person is born with a purpose but that it's up to them whether or not they fulfill that purpose when the time comes," Tenzou replied after a few minutes. "Without the ability to choose and make our own decisions, we'd be nothing more than puppets on a string and forever dancing to another's tune." Tenzou thought back to his time in the Foundation under the command of Danzou. "I've seen living puppets. They're sad mockeries of living beings that have forgotten what it means to live."_

"_And what purpose do you think you were meant to serve?"_

_Tenzou slowed to a stop and glanced up at the sky, his mind on Konoha as he replied, "I'm a protector." He'd then dropped his gaze down to meet Lily's vibrant green eyes, "What about you? What do you think your purpose is?"_

"_I'm going to be a mother."_

"_You don't sound very happy about that," Tenzou remarked as he immediately picked up on the underlying grief that colored her tone._

"_Oh, I'm very happy about the prospect of being a mother. I just wish… well, it's not important. So why do you think you are a protector? Are you a policeman or a soldier? Or are you secretly a knight in shining armor that runs around saving damsels in distress and rescuing kidnapped princesses?"_

"_A soldier," Tenzou replied with a brief laugh; his thoughts circulating around the handful of times he had rescued a real life princess and saved more than a few damsels in distress._

"_Are you happy being a soldier?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And have you ever fought in a war, Haruo?" Lily asked as her eyes darkened with some nameless emotion._

"_Briefly, yes," Tenzou replied as he tried not to think about the Third Great Shinobi War. _

"_Will you tell me what it was like?"_

"_It was terrifying," Tenzou quietly admitted. "And I pray that I never have to live through another war."_

"_How did you find the courage to fight if you were so scared?"_

"_It was my job to fight, to protect those who could not fight and to protect my home."_

"_If you got caught up in another war and you stumbled upon a way to end it, would you do whatever it took to stop it?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Even if it meant dying?"_

"_Absolutely."_

"_Are you not afraid of dying?"_

"_No, I'm not afraid of dying; there are things out there that are far, far worse than death."_

"_Gryffindor," Lily huffed with a small shake of her head but before Tenzou could ask her what she meant, she changed the subject. "Do you believe in magic, Haruo?"_

"_That depends; what is it that you think magic is?"_

"_I was taught that magic is an energy that permeates the entire world; it's the lifeblood of Mother Earth and the thread of life that connects everything together. It's found in every single rock, plant, and living creature; it's the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat."_

_Tenzou assumed that Lily was mislabeling the three known energies (mental, physical, and natural) as magic and so answered, "In that case, yes; I believe in magic."_

"_I'm glad," Lily replied as she turned to him and gave him a radiant smile and Tenzou blushed in response. "I couldn't imagine going through life believing there was no such thing as magic. The world would be washed out and dull if there was no magic to breathe colors and life into the world." _

Tenzou was pulled out of the memory when the sound of Tokage's voice abruptly dragged him back to the present as the medic muttered, "Now that's strange; all of the welts and blisters vanished the moment I flushed the energy from your system. That shouldn't be possible. Removing the foreign energy should not have healed the welts or blisters. Physical injuries should not have disappeared like that; healing doesn't work that way. I will have to run a few tests…"

"Test him for complications later; I want the tainted energy clinging to the little gaki taken care of first so that he can be properly screened for potential problems and threats," Kasai interjected before Tokage could state exactly which tests it was he planned to run on Tenzou.

"Of course, Kasai-sama," Tokage sighed as he stepped away from Tenzou and approached the wooden table that held a still sleeping Haruo.

Tenzou moved around to the opposite side of the table in order to observe the procedure and be close enough to grab his son if the child woke up and tried to flee in a panic. He then watched as Tokage placed his thumbs and index fingers in a triangle around the jagged scar on Haruo's forehead; the knuckles of his other fingers lightly resting against the skin. The medic's hands lit up with healing chakra a split second later that pooled around the edges of the rough triangle before it seeped into the healthy tissue surrounding the strange scar.

Seconds quickly turned into minutes and it wasn't long before Tenzou could smell the slight tang of body odor filling the air as Tokage began to sweat in exertion despite the fact that it looked like nothing was really happening. After another twenty minutes passed, Tokage's shirt was soaked in sweat and his arms had begun trembling. Just when it looked like the medic would pass out from exhaustion before he managed to finish what he was doing, the scar on Haruo's forehead split open as a stream of blood, puss, black tar, and thick smoke poured forth from the jagged cut.

The color of the smoke was almost the exact same color of green as the healing chakra coating Tokage's hands and Tenzou couldn't help but recall the way Haruo had reacted the first time Tokage tried to scan him. The sheer amount of malevolence the smoke generated was tremendous and both Tenzou and Tokage leaned away from the rising smoke in order to avoid breathing it in; the two men instinctively knew the 'smoke' could kill them. As the terrible vapor gathered in the air above the child, it formed into a thick cloud that briefly took on the likeness of a face before it shattered like glass and disappeared.

At the same time as the smoke vanished, the foul tar-like sludge finally stopped pouring out of Haruo's scar and crystallized as it slid off of the boy's face. The scar would continue to seep blood and pus for another minute before the infection was completely cleared from the scar. As soon as the blood ran clean, the scar closed up and faded until all that remained was a faint, jagged line that looked something like a lightning bolt. Tokage cut off the flow of healing chakra he'd been pouring into Haruo before he shifted his hands and initiated a diagnostic scan to confirm that the foreign energy had been removed from the child's scar.

"Well?" Kasai demanded the moment Tokage finished the scan and wiped the blood and pus from the boy's face before he dropped his hands away from the child.

"The removal was successful," Tokage wearily replied as he slipped a hand under his scaled mask to wipe the sweat from his face before he collected the crystallized substance that had been flushed from Haruo's scar and sealed it into a storage scroll he pulled from his pocket. "I will have a full report for you in a couple of days; including an analysis of the substance that was flushed from the scar. If there's nothing else you need from me, I'll need a couple of days to recover."

"Dismissed," Kasai needlessly ordered as he dropped the barrier so that Tokage could stagger out of the room. The ANBU Commander then walked up to the table and stared down at the surprisingly still sleeping Haruo for five long minutes. He then glanced up to meet Tenzou's gaze as he growled, "Take your son to your quarters so he can sleep off his exhaustion; do not leave the premises with him. I expect you to notify me the moment he wakes up so that the rest of his evaluation can be completed."

"Hai, Kasai-sama," Tenzou replied as he collected his son and tucked him beneath his cloak once more.

* * *

_August 30, 1983, 07:42 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Yamanaka Inoichi impassively watched as Kuma entered the room on Tokage's heels. The moment the door closed behind them, Kasai raised a privacy barrier to ensure that they weren't disturbed for the duration of their meeting. Once the barrier was in place, Kuma removed his ANBU cloak to uncover his son. Unlike the first time Inoichi had met the child, the boy was wide awake and Inoichi found himself once again struck by the intensity of the boy's leaf green eyes that he'd only ever seen in Kuma's memories.

He had never seen such vibrant colored eyes on another human outside of Kuma's memories of both his son and his son's mother. It wasn't just that they were true green eyes (not hazel or even blue-green). No, there was something more in the child's eyes that made them stand out vividly so as to capture one's attention. Some unnamed quality that gave the boy's eyes (and his mother's eyes before him) a life of their own. It was almost as if they glowed with an inner light. Seeing those eyes in person gave Inoichi an inkling of why Kuma had never forgotten child's mother.

_Kuma's son is going to be quite popular with the ladies once he is unleashed on the village,_ Inoichi thought to himself as he pictured women and girls of all ages cooing and drooling over the child's vivid eyes. _It's boys like him that make fathers everywhere fear for their daughters' hearts. It should be illegal for a boy to be that adorable._

Inoichi's attention was drawn back to the matter at hand when Kasai growled out, "Let's get this over with; I have better things to do with my time than play nursemaid to a headache inducing gaki."

"Kuma, have you already explained to your son what it is I'm going to do?" Inoichi asked as he stepped up beside the father-son pair.

"Yes, though I am unsure if Haruo fully understood."

"So long as he understood that I'm not looking to harm him and that he knows not to fight the intrusion, the rest is unimportant. If I'm successful in gaining entry into his mind this time; do you want me to implant a template of basic Japanese so that he can more easily learn to speak and read the language?"

"Yes," Kasai replied in Kuma's place. "The child will need to have a basic understanding of Japanese since so few shinobi and even fewer civilians have been taught any of the various languages used in the Outer Countries."

Inoichi nodded in compliance as he reached out to place his left hand on Haruo's forehead and felt the child cringe in response to his touch. The thirty-two year old held perfectly still as he waited for the boy to grow comfortable with his touch. Once the child had relaxed a measure, Inoichi brought his right hand up in front of his face with his index and middle finger pointing towards the ceiling while his other three fingers were curled inwards to form half of the Ram Seal.

He then met Haruo's wary gaze one last time and tried not to wince as he recalled the first few times he'd attempted to view the memories of Kuma's son; that had been a painful experience he could have done without. Pushing his concerns out of his mind, Inoichi closed his eyes and initiated the Mind Delving Technique that allowed him to view a person's memories. He felt his mind slipping into the child's mind a heartbeat later and Inoichi tensed in preparation for his mind to be forcefully thrown out.

Inoichi was pleasantly surprised when after a count of ten he was still hovering on the edge of Haruo's mind. He let out a sigh of relief that the child's strange defenses didn't throw him out again. His relief was short lived. The moment he made to move deeper into the child's mind, a barrier of energy sprang up to protect the child's mind from him. He leaned closer to inspect the barrier and frowned as he noted that it was mostly clear with threads of white, green, blue, and yellow snaking across the surface every few seconds in no discernible pattern.

Unwilling to find out if it was that barrier that had been responsible for kicking him out on his previous attempts to read the boy's memories, Inoichi instead began searching for a 'door' leading into Haruo's actual mind. It would take him forty-five minutes to determine that the barrier was seamless and he began to suspect that he might not be able to reach the child's mind no matter what he did. He had just reached his starting point when he suddenly discovered he was not quite as alone as he'd thought he was. Inoichi immediately recognized the spirit watching him as the child's mother due to his recent viewing of Tenzou's memories.

"_So, you have returned yet again,_" the spirit intoned the moment their eyes met. "_What is it that you want from my son that you can not gain by speaking to him?_"

"I wish to search his mind for traps and view his memories so that I can confirm that he's not a threat to our village or to his father."

The spirit froze for a split second before she drifted closer to Inoichi as she demanded, "_Is Harry with Haruo now?_"

"Yes, Haruo brought the child home with him," Inoichi replied; the shinobi automatically using the code name that Kuma had been using at the time that he'd met the child's mother.

"_Thank Merlin; when our friend had not found him before my husband and I died, I feared that all hope had been lost._"

"What do you mean?" Inoichi fished as he noted the shimmering tears of relief sliding down the spirit's face.

"_In life, I was a seer. The first facet of my ability showed me the sequence of events that would lead to my death and the effect my death would have on the world. I was fifteen when I learned that the birth of my first child would trigger the series of events that would lead to my death and that my death would stop a war. For the longest time, I was frightened of what my future held for me. It wasn't until I met Haruo that I finally accepted my fate. It was his words that gave me the courage to do what I had to do when the time came._"

"_The next facet of my ability allowed me to see glimpses of the past and future of those people with whom I came into contact. It did not allow me to view their entire lives nor did it allow me to learn any of their secrets; it merely showed me flashes of the events that had or would shape their lives and allowed me to judge a person's character through those brief glimpses. The moment I ran into Haruo, I knew he was an honorable and kind young man. I also knew he was one of three potential fathers for my then unborn son and that I would never see him again._"

"_The final facet of my ability allowed me to view the potential futures of those born of my blood. The first time I held my son, I knew he would not have an easy life. One path would see him being raised by my sister until he reached his seventeenth birthday. In that timeline, he would be groomed as a sacrificial lamb the moment he reached his eleventh birthday and led to a meaningless death before his eighteenth birthday. A second path had my son growing into a monster ten times worse than the man who killed my husband and I; he would have washed the world in blood._"

"_The rest of the potential paths I was shown all had my son being found by his father. In some of them, Haruo raised little Harry and in the rest our son being raised in an orphanage. I should warn you now, if Haruo raises his son, it will not end well. All three of those paths led to endless wars and untold suffering. That said, if Haruo is not part of Harry's life, then Harry will either die before his fifth birthday or he will be turned into an emotionless weapon. In both cases, it will lead to world-wide suffering and terrible wars._"

"_I will leave you with four final warnings. One, do not seal away my son's gifts; it will destroy him and then he will destroy the village you hold dear. Two, do not alter my son's mind or memories in anyway; your meddling will set my son down a path that will lead to one of the darker futures. He will learn your language in his own time. Three, when my son makes his first friend, do not attempt to separate them for any reason; they will need each other to survive and their friendship will keep them both firmly grounded. And four, keep my son far away from all snakes for as long as humanly possible._"

The woman's spirit then reached up to place her right index and middle finger against Inoichi's forehead (over what some call the third eye) and he felt a brief flare of warmth that vanished the moment the spirit dropped its arm. The spirit then smiled sadly at Inoichi as she stated, "_This is goodbye Inoichi Yamanaka; we will not meet again for my presence is no longer needed to protect my son. You and you alone will be able to view my son's memories; anyone else attempting to enter my son's mind, whether or not he is awake, will be rebuffed much as you were during your previous attempts._"

"Before you disappear; can you offer me any proof that what you've just told me is the truth? And is there anything you can tell me about the strange energy we discovered in your son?" Inoichi asked as the spirit began fading out of sight.

"_Speak to the toads; they will have the answers you seek._"

Inoichi frowned as he watched the spirit vanish without a trace at the same time as a door materialized in the barrier surrounding Haruo's mind. He briefly wondered if her presence had just been a figment of his imagination brought on by an advanced genjutsu of some kind. He dismissed the possibility a heartbeat later; he had not sensed any chakra flares prior to her appearance or upon her disappearance; not even when she'd briefly touched him. He would have to analyze her words later; he'd been here far too long already and he still needed to scan the child's memories.

With that in mind, Inoichi moved through the 'door' in the barrier guarding little Haruo's thoughts and memories. He froze in surprise the moment he stepped beyond the barrier; the child's mind was unlike any other mind he'd visited in the past. Instead of ending up in a large empty room with a giant brain that represented the person's mind like he usually did, he found himself in a forest clearing ringed with trees, tall shrubs, and climbing vines and carpeted with grass. In the very center of the room there was a large pond filled with a silvery liquid and a half grown holly tree growing beside it.

Stranger still, were the five animals that were lounging or playing beside the holly tree. There was a large stag, a slightly smaller doe, a large black dog, and a wiry wolf; all four of them perfectly content with one another's presence despite the fact that the deer would normally be considered prey by the canines. The last animal was the strangest yet as with each step it took, it morphed into a different creature; a fawn, a puppy, a wolf cub, a fledging sparrow, an otter pup, a beaver kit, a fledging hawk, a squirrel pup, and then a fawn once more.

He watched the quintet for a few minutes before he circled the entire clearing looking for any evidence that the child's mind had been tampered with by another. He also made certain to keep an eye on those in the center of the clearing just in case they sought to harm him or kick him out; since he didn't really know what they were or why they were there to begin with. Once he'd determined that the child's mind had not been altered through the use of a genjutsu, ninjutsu, or fuuinjutsu, Inoichi turned his attention back towards the center of the clearing as he approached those that were gathered around the pond.

As Inoichi moved deeper into the clearing, all four of the adult animals glanced in his direction before they rose to their feet and stepped into the pond. The moment their feet touched the silvery liquid, the color bled from their forms until they turned silver and melted into the pond. The final animal, currently a fledging hawk, let out a cry of disappointment over their departure before it morphed into an exact replica of Kuma's son and promptly turned to pout at the pond. The child then glanced up at Inoichi and blinked at him in surprise.

"How did you get here child?" Inoichi inquired as he made his way to the pond.

"This is my mind; where else would I be?"

"And the animals? What were they and why were they here?"

"They were my memories and they keep me company when I'm lonely."

"Does that mean the pond holds all of your memories?"

"Yes," Haruo agreed as he nodded his head. He then tipped his head to one side and asked, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

"My name is Yamanaka Inoichi. I'm here because I'm looking for your memories; so I could watch them. How is it that you can understand me when I know you don't speak Japanese?"

"I don't know; I just do. Why were you looking for my memories?"

"I wish to see them."

"Oh. The man in the kitty mask said something about that, I think. I didn't know you would come here though. I didn't think anyone else could visit my mind unless they were part of my memories but you didn't step out of the pond like my memories do."

"Will you tell me why your memories are in a pond?" Inoichi requested as he knelt down beside said pond just a few feet away from the child.

"Where else would they be? If they weren't kept in the pond, they'd be all over the place making a mess and they might get lost or dirty. I wouldn't want the scary memories running around either. They're scary and they bring bad dreams."

Inoichi had to bite back a chuckle over the child's logic in why his memories were kept in a pond. His comments about scary memories and bad dreams were less amusing as it spoke of past trauma. He studied the mental projection of the child for a moment before he returned his attention to the memories that he had come to view.

"How does one view your memories if they are stuck in a pond?"

"I don't know. I don't watch them. Whenever I'm lonely, the memories of Mummy, Daddy Prongs, Uncle Moony, and Uncle Padfoot step out on their own. I see them when I touch their memories."

"Touch…?" Inoichi repeated as he leaned closer to the silver pool.

After a brief hesitation, he ran his fingers over the surface of the pond and immediately all of the memories surged up to form a silver replica of a human brain; much like he originally expected to find when he first entered the room. Rising back to his feet, Inoichi felt the tension he'd been feeling fade into the background over the familiar sight. He could work with this. He waited for the brain to stabilize before he placed his hands on the silvery structure. As soon as his hands touched the construct, a large scroll formed beneath his hands and he pulled it out as he began the process of viewing the child's memories.

As the scroll unwound itself, the parchment dropped down into the empty pool and returned to its former liquid state. At the same time, the silver brain began shrinking with each memory viewed. By the time Inoichi viewed the last memory, there was nothing left of the brain and all of the memories had been returned to the pond. The blond shinobi stared at the gently shifting liquid for a moment before he turned away from the pond to glance at the small child sitting in the branches of the holly tree. The child met his gaze evenly and without emotion and Inoichi barely suppressed the shiver that ran down his spine at seeing such a young child gaze at him that way.

The warnings that the spirit of the child's mother had given him suddenly seemed far more important than they had when he'd first heard them.

"Will you call me a freak now too? Are you going to make me stop growing the plants?" Haruo asked in a resigned tone that let Inoichi know that the child thought that was exactly what he was going to do.

"No, you're not a freak. You were born with a very special ability and that makes you a very special boy. And no one is going to make you stop using your gift. However, you can't just run around growing plants wherever you feel like it and you can't show off your ability to just anyone. There are people out there that would hurt you if they knew what you could do; because they will be scared of how powerful you will be when you grow up. There are also people that would use you to hurt other people."

"The man in the kitty mask promised he would take me to a place where I could grow plants and trees."

"And he will; just as soon as we can find a safe place for you to do so."

"Oh. Okay."

"Did you have any other questions you'd like to ask me before I leave?"

"Will you ever come back?"

"Yes, I will most likely come back to check your new memories from time to time. That is especially true if you become a shinobi when you are older."

"What's a shinobi?"

"A shinobi is someone who protects the village from those that would harm the people who live here."

"Is it hard to be a shinobi?"

"It can be, yes; it takes a lot of hard work to grow strong."

"Are you a shinobi?"

"Yes, and so are Kuma and Kasai."

"Who are they?"

"Kuma is the man with the cat mask and Kasai is the one wearing the flame mask."

"Why is his name bear if he wears a kitty mask?"

"Because someone else was given the name Neko."

"So why not call him kitten? Or you could call him tiger or panther or some other big strong kitty name. Or just give him a teddy bear mask instead. It's silly to have a kitty named bear."

"I will be sure to pass your complaints about Kuma's name on to Kasai since he was the one who named him," Inoichi assured the child as he fought not to laugh in response to the child's logic. "Was that the last of your questions?"

"I guess."

"Then I will say goodbye for now."

"Bye-bye," Haruo crowed as he dropped down from the tree and morphed into a fawn once more as he darted about the clearing; his form once more changing with each step he took.

Shaking his head, Inoichi retraced his steps so he could leave the child's mind. Just before he passed through the barrier protecting little Haruo's mind, he turned back to watch the child playing for another moment. As he watched, the four animals from earlier rose up from out of the pond to join him once more. All four animals glanced in his direction for a long moment before they turned to watch over the child. Inoichi suspected that those particular memories were not mere memories as he recalled the spirit of the child's mother; they were far too cognizant of their surroundings and of the child's emotions.

He didn't think they were a threat though; there was no malice in their gazes or in their aura. That didn't mean that they weren't dangerous; just that they were not seeking to actively harm him. He almost pitied the foolish intruder that didn't have permission to enter the child's mind should any one ever make it past the barrier that protected Haruo's mind. Just before he stepped through the door and exited Haruo's mind, Inoichi made a mental note to make certain his daughter knew not to enter Haruo's mind once she learned their family's techniques.

As he returned to his body, Inoichi ignored the familiar headache that came from drawing a large amount of information from another's mind as he opened his eyes and gazed down at the child whose mind he'd just left. The child blinked his leaf green eyes a few times as he met Inoichi's gaze before he sleepily curled into Kuma's arms and snuggled against his father's shoulder. Inoichi smiled fondly to himself as he recalled the many times he'd cuddled with his daughter and ruffled the boy's hair out of habit before he dropped his hand and stepped back.

"You certainly took your sweet time," Kasai complained as he scowled at Inoichi from his desk.

"It took me longer to find a way around his defenses than I originally thought it would and there were a few anomalies that I had not anticipated finding in his mind."

"What did you find?"

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Shintenshin no Jutsu – Mind Body Change Technique

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	4. Contingency Plans

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Four: Contingency Plans

_August 30, 1983, 10:09 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Tenzou frowned beneath his mask and shifted his son into a more comfortable position as he tried not to worry about what Inoichi might have found in the child's memories. He definitely didn't like the sound of the anomalies that Inoichi had mentioned finding. Anomalies were never good things. Anomalies usually meant tampering and Kasai would make his life a living hell if his son's mind had been tampered with and it turned out that his son was a serious threat.

It was that knowledge that drove Tenzou to demand, "What did you find?"

"First, his entire mind is protected by a powerful barrier that is a natural defense; it carries his chakra signature and the signature of the alternate energy that Tokage discovered," Inoichi answered. "Second, his mind is completely unlike any other mind I have ever delved and there was no indication of any outside tampering; meaning that his mind is naturally different. Third, I suspect that the child has or will have a measure of control over his mind since he has the ability to appear as an avatar within his own mind. I spoke to him both before and after I viewed his memories."

"The fourth and final anomaly was the presence of his mother's spirit within his mind. I believe she was guarding his mind from intrusions because she was outside of the defensive barrier and it was not until she gave me her blessing to enter his mind that I was able to pass through the barrier. I think I learned more from her spirit than I did from the child's memories. She passed over into the afterlife immediately after she finished passing on her warnings; the spirit came right out and told me that I would not see her again because her presence was no longer needed to watch over her son."

"Are you certain you didn't get caught up in a genjutsu?" Kasai skeptically inquired as he drummed his fingers on his desk and eyed Inoichi carefully from behind his mask.

"Not with any certainty but I am inclined to believe her words."

"Why?" Tenzou asked as he wondered what Lily's spirit could have possible said or done to convince the interrogator that she was not just a figment of his imagination.

"I did not sense any fluctuations in the child's chakra before she appeared or when she disappeared and there was not a single seal present anywhere within the child's mind; I checked. She also told me that the toads would be able to both prove her words were true and answer any questions regarding the secondary energy found within the child."

"What were her exact words when she mentioned the toads?" Kasai prompted as his fingers stilled.

"Speak to the toads; they will have the answers you seek," Inoichi quoted without any hesitation.

"You said you learned more from the spirit than you did from the child's memories. What exactly was it that you learned from her?"

"She claimed to be a seer with a limited ability to view her own demise, judge a person's character based upon snippets of their past and future, and see the possible futures of her children's lives. I believe that once she knew the various paths her son could face, she sought to prevent him from falling into one of the darker paths in his future. Each warning that she gave me dealt with those events that would turn out badly or lead her son down a darker path; most of them leading to war."

"And…?" Tenzou gruffly demanded when Inoichi paused for a moment.

"First, she warned against you raising him yourself; stating that all three potential paths would end in war and untold suffering. At the same time, she said that if you were not a part of your son's life, then he would either die before his fifth birthday or end up as an emotionless weapon. Either occurrence would bring about the same results that you personally raising him would."

"I already knew it would not be wise to raise him myself," Tenzou murmured regretfully as he dropped his gaze to the boy in his arms. "It would paint too large of a target on him."

"Were those the only warnings she gave?"

"No, Kasai-sama; she gave me four more explicit warnings and one rather subtle warning. One, do not seal his abilities. Two, do not alter her son's mind or memories. Three, do not separate him from his first friend. Four, keep the boy away from all snakes. And five, do not let any one else read the child's mind."

"And did she give any indication of what would happen if those warnings were ignored? And who exactly is the child's first friend?" Kasai inquired as he resumed drumming his fingers.

"For most of them, yes. If his abilities were sealed, she stated it would destroy him and that he would in turn destroy the village; she did not say how or why though. Meddling with the child's mind would set him down one of the darker paths and she flat out stated that he would learn Japanese in his own time; meaning that I should not even attempt to implant a template of the language. Allowing another to read the boy's mind would see them thrown out of his mind in much the same way I was when I tried to view his memories while he was asleep."

"As for his friend, the way she worded the warning indicates that her son has not yet made his first friend. She said that they would need each other to survive and remain grounded. She did not give me any clues to who the child would befriend though. And lastly, she did not give a reason for keeping the boy away from snakes but I don't think one is necessary given who holds the contract to that species. I would suggest keeping Anko away from the child for now since she often summons low level snakes to shock and frighten people."

Kasai opened his mouth to ask another question only to close it when someone began pounding on his office door; the sound loud enough to cut through the barrier. The ANBU commander attempted to ignore whoever it was attempting to get his attention right up until a familiar (and slightly muffled) voice was heard.

"_Chikushou, I know you're in there you old fossil! Open up and let me in before I break the door down! I'm tired and cranky and not in the mood to sit out here and wait for you to finish drooling over whatever girly magazine you're thumbing through._"

"When the hell did that snot nosed gaki get into town? And why the hell is he bothering me?" Kasai groused under his breath as he brought down the privacy barrier by destroying the seal tag generating the barrier. "Tokage, let the damned pervert in before he starts destroying village property."

Less than a minute later, Jiraiya strode into the room wearing a put upon look on his face. Tenzou found it both curious and suspicious that the Gama Sennin turned up not long after Inoichi had passed on the news that the toads held the answers they needed. Kasai glared at the man for a long minute before he put up a fresh privacy barrier.

"About damned time you opened the door, you old has been," Jiraiya growled as he ignored the glaring commander and swept his gaze around the room before zeroing in on the napping Haruo.

"Why are you pestering me?" Kasai demanded as he ignored the insult the Sennin had directed at him.

"The toads contacted me in southern Cha no Kuni three days ago and ordered me to hightail it home. Apparently, some fool went and triggered a series of dormant prophecies. And the only reason why I'm pestering you is because I was told that you would be able to point me towards the unlucky runt that had the misfortune to be the subject of no less than three prophecies and the catalyst for another twelve. I'm actually not even here for me; I'm just the go-between. It's Shima and Fukasaku that wish to see the Child of Prophecy for themselves. He's supposed to be something special."

"Funny you should mention the toads," Inoichi drawled as he glanced between Jiraiya and Tenzou. "I just spoke to the spirit of a woman that told me the toads would have the answers to a few questions we have regarding a young boy."

"Your point?" Jiraiya dryly countered as he sliced open the pad of his thumb on a tooth before he rushed through the hand seals for the summoning technique and slammed his hands on the office floor. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Haruo jerked awake at the same time as a cloud of smoke burst forth from the seals generated by the summoning technique. The boy twisted in Tenzou's arms as the smoke cleared to reveal a pair of cat-sized toads. The toad on the left was wearing a black cape and had curly purple hair while the toad on the right was wearing a gray cape and sported a white mohawk, large bushy eyebrows, and a small goatee; though how it was possible for _toads_ to grow hair was a complete mystery. Haruo tipped his head to one side as he stared down at the toads that were in turn staring up at him.

"Bless my soul; the child is a Trueborn!" the purple-haired toad declared in a gruff but obviously feminine voice as she pressed her hands (flippers?) over her heart.

"And a powerful one at that," the male toad agreed as he hopped closer to Tenzou. "Well, don't just stand there, boy! Set the child down on the floor so that we might get a proper look at him!"

Tenzou snorted in response to the order; he had no intention of letting go of his son any time soon. He knew better than to ignore the request completely though and so chose to compromise instead; kneeling down so that Haruo would be on an even level with the toads. Both toads smirked at him in response to his overprotectiveness but didn't bother to make a second request for his son to be removed from his arms.

"What a precious little tadpole you are," the female toad cooed (or rather croaked) as she reached out as if to cup Haruo's face only for her to freeze when Haruo flinched back away from her touch.

"My apologies; my son dislikes being touched," Tenzou murmured as he watched the toad's expression grow troubled. "His former guardians were… unkind to him." He then switched to English in order to address his son. "_Haruo, you do not need to be afraid of the toads; they will not hurt you._"

"_Toads are slimy and I don't want warts,_" Haruo countered as he wrinkled his little nose. "_And these toads are weird. They talk just like the garden snakes talk only I can't understand them. Just like I can't understand you when you talk to the other people._"

"_These toads are not regular toads; they are what we call summonses. They are from a special clan of toads that are much smarter, stronger, and larger than normal toads. As such, they will not behave like regular toads; meaning that they are not slimy and can not give you warts just because you touch them or they touch you. The reason why you can not understand us when we talk is because we are speaking Japanese, not English._"

Tenzou paused for a moment then as he recalled the comment that his son had made regarding snakes before he carefully asked, "_When did you speak to the snakes?_"

"_In the garden sometimes when Aunt Petunia locked me outside but I didn't talk to them. I got scared the first time I heard one talk because no one else could hear them._"

"_What did the snakes tell you?_"

"_They only ever complained about being really cold or very hungry when I heard them in the garden. Some of them would yell at me if I got too close but I never understood the things they called me. Mostly they would just crawl away if they saw me._"

"_Did they ever talk about a summoner or a master when they spoke to you? And did you ever see a strange man close by when the snakes were in the garden?_"

"_No._"

Tenzou felt more than a little relief that his son hadn't actually encountered Orochimaru. Of course, if he had seen or spoken to the traitor, then Inoichi would have mentioned that earlier; since that information would have been far more important than the anomalies he'd spoken about finding in Haruo's mind. It was still somewhat worrying that his son had encountered at least one summons in the Outer Countries though; since it meant that there had been another shinobi in England (aside from himself) or someone had sent the summons to England to search for something.

"Where and how did you meet this child's mother?" the male toad inquired without taking his eyes off of Haruo once it appeared that Tenzou had finished his conversation; the question distracting the shinobi from his current train of thought.

"It was a chance meeting in the Outer Countries four years ago. We bumped into one another and ended up spending several hours together. I never saw her again after that day and was not aware of my son's existence until I returned to the Outer Countries just a few weeks ago for another mission."

"He was born in the Outer Countries then," the toad mused to himself.

"Fukasaku, are you certain the boy is a Trueborn Sage?" Jiraiya asked as he leaned to one side and scratched the back of his left calf with his right foot.

"Yes," the male toad replied (making him Fukasaku and the female Shima). "I could sense the natural energy gathering around the child the moment you summoned us. The air practically hums with the amount of energy that is being drawn to him. You would be able to sense the build up of natural energy as well if you were in Sage Mode."

"What exactly is a Trueborn Sage?" Inoichi questioned curiously.

"A Trueborn Sage is any human that was born with the capacity to absorb natural energy without needing to sit perfectly still and without any of the risks that a student of senjutsu would face when collecting natural energy," Shima answered as she tried to coax Haruo into taking hold of her hand. "A Trueborn's body will then automatically blend the natural energy they absorb with the Trueborn's spiritual energy within that part of them that they refer to as their magical core."

"Trueborns can then use the resulting energy, what they call their mahou, to manipulate and alter the world around them," Shima continued before she paused for a moment, as if lost in a memory. "Legends state that a small number of Trueborn Sages are able to incorporate their physical energy into the mixture of natural energy and spiritual energy in order to physically alter their own forms into that of an animal. I do not know if there is any truth in that though."

"What exactly is a 'magical core'? Is that just another name for a person's chakra coils?"

"No, a magical core is not to be confused with a person's chakra coils," Fukasaku corrected with a head shake. "For one thing, a Trueborn's core is located within the heart, not the stomach like one's chakra coils, and all Trueborns are born with both a magical core and chakra coils. Another difference is that a person can survive having the bulk of their chakra sealed for long stretches of time but a Trueborn Sage cannot survive without their mahou because they need their mahou just as much as they need the air they breathe. It has been said that the shock of having their mahou stripped away is enough to kill a grown Trueborn."

"On top of that, the backlash of uncontrolled natural energy that gathered around the sealed Trueborn could potentially destroy an entire village (if the Trueborn in question is powerful enough) since the natural energy would still be drawn to them but their body would be unable to absorb the energy that is drawn to them and that energy would instead be violently expelled from their body," Shima interjected and Tenzou immediately noted that that comment coincided with Lily's warning about sealing away Haruo's abilities.

"That explanation certainly explains the strange secondary energy I had sensed when I was examining the child the other day," Tokage pointed out while everyone else took a moment to digest what they'd just learned.

"Why is it that I've not heard about Trueborn Sages before now?" Kasai demanded grumpily. "You'd think word of such a unique group of individuals running about the Elemental Nations would have spread far and wide."

"That's because this child is the first Trueborn Sage to set foot in the Elemental Nations since the Great Barrier was raised to separate the Outer Countries from the Elemental Nations," Shima replied as she traced nonsensical patterns on the palm of Haruo's palm while the child giggled and tried to copy her. "The reason that you have not heard of them until now is because few records from the time before the Great Barrier survived the rampage of the Juubi before it was sealed into the Rikudou Sennin."

"The reason the Great Barrier exists in the first place was to contain the Juubi to prevent it from destroying the entire world," Fukasaku added solemnly. "Over five hundred Trueborn Sages gave their lives to raise the Great Barrier to trap the Juubi so that it could be defeated. The energy they unleashed while accomplishing that feat is what led to the creation of the World Between (where the Summoning Clans live), forged the Great Paths that connect the Outer Countries to the Elemental Nations through the World Between, and gave birth to the first Summoning Clans."

"Most of those who hold a Summoning Contract would've recognized the boy as a Trueborn the moment he used his mahou in their presence because we are taught the true histories," Jiraiya further explained. "The only exception is for those who only hold a conditional or limited summoning contract with a specific individual or group of individuals. Any run of the mill summons would have recognized him on sight though; since all summonses have a deeper connection to nature and natural energy than most humans."

"What exactly is Haruo's status as a Trueborn Sage going to mean for him?" Tenzou inquired as he allowed his son to slip out of his arms and sit on the floor where he continued to play finger games with Shima now that he was no longer leery of the toad.

"It means that he will inevitably attract attention from the various summonses that he encounters due to the fact that all of the Summoning Clans hold Trueborns in high esteem. Or at least they used to; some of the clans have abandoned the old teachings," Fukasaku stated as he absently ran his fingers through Haruo's hair. "The Snakes will likely cause trouble if they learn of his presence; Manda shuns the old teachings. You won't have to worry about that until he actually starts using his mahou on a regular basis though. The only exception would be for those summonses that get close enough to the child to sense the natural energy that is drawn to him."

"Once the various clans start to take notice of the tadpole, I'd imagine that there'll be an increase in summonses hanging about the village in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the child and you may even be able to draw in a few new contracts as a result," Shima seamlessly added. "I have no doubt that a good number of the unaligned and less popular summoning clans will want to be associated with the home of a Trueborn. The child himself will be courted by most, if not all of the clans once his chakra reserves are large enough to handle a summoning and if he should choose to open his coils."

"My son's coils are already open; he inherited the Senju's Mokuton through me," Tenzou quietly pointed out. "It was his ability to use an altered version of the Mokuton that alerted me to the fact that he was my son. If the Summoning Clans hold Trueborn Sages in such high esteem; does that mean that I will have to worry about Summoners abducting my son in order to deliver him to a specific clan?"

"Only if the snakes or one of the other fallen clans are involved," Fukasaku replied. "Any summoners attempting to steal away or harm a Trueborn Child would have their names stricken from their clan's summoning contract; if they weren't killed outright for committing such an atrocious crime. You have to understand; Trueborn Sages are considered to be the embodiment of nature and harming a Trueborn is considered a crime against nature itself."

"And this child has been twice blessed if he truly carries the Mokuton," Shima murmured as she somehow managed to perch herself in Haruo's lap once he grew bored of their game and took to staring at Jiraiya instead.

"He does," Tenzou and Kasai confirmed in stereo.

"Then his Kekkei Genkai undoubtedly strengthens his connection to nature and is most likely the reason he is such a powerful child despite his current age and lack of training," Shima stated with a decisive nod. "He is destined to be a true force of nature."

"And what of the prophecies that Jiraiya mentioned when he first barged in here?" Kasai inquired. "He said the gaki was the subject of at least three and connected to another dozen or so."

"Yes, that is true," Fukasaku acknowledged. "I can not tell you the wording of the prophecies, because I do not know the wording myself, but I do know that all three of the prophecies in question are linked in such a way that only one of them can be fulfilled. Each one of those three prophecies is further linked to an additional four prophecies that will only come into play if the main prophecy to which they are connected is fulfilled. Those sub prophecies in turn have other minor prophecies linked to them. You can liken it to a domino effect or a branching effect."

"What can you tell us about the prophecies?"

"Two of them lead to the destruction of the Elemental Nations," Fukasaku gravely intoned. "The third is purported to be the most difficult to achieve but should that prophecy be fulfilled, then the Elemental Nations will see a century long period of peace and prosperity starting within the next two or three decades. It is by no means an easy road but the alternatives are far too terrible to even consider."

"Since you are speaking of prophecies, does that mean that seers truly exist?" Inoichi asked the moment Fukasaku stopped speaking.

"Yes, without seers and prophets, there would be no prophecies. Why do you ask?"

"I encountered the spirit of Haruo's mother when I entered his mind to view his memories in search of answers and to confirm that the child was not a threat due to the circumstances in which he was found. His mother's spirit claimed to be a seer and that her ability was limited to the knowledge of her death, an ability to judge a person's character based upon glimpses she could see of their lives, and a vision of the possible futures her son could face."

"The child was named as the Seer's Son in the three main prophecies," Shima revealed as she exchanged a long look with Fukasaku. "Did the woman's shade say anything else?"

"Yes, she gave me several warnings."

"It would be best if all of you took her warnings to heart," Fukasaku advised as he met the gazes of those present one at a time. "A Trueborn Seer would not give warnings from beyond the grave lightly."

"Care to share those warnings so we all know what to watch out for, Inoichi?" Jiraiya prompted after a couple of minutes had passed while the humans digested the toad's words.

"Basically, she stated that Kuma must be involved in his son's life but that he could not personally raise the child. She also warned against sealing his abilities, altering his mind or memories, separating him from his first friend, and allowing anyone other than myself to enter the child's mind. The last warning was to keep him far away from snakes."

"Sound advice; do we have a name for his friend?"

"No, I do not believe he has met him or her as of yet due to the wording that the spirit used," Inoichi answered.

"So, what's the game plan?" Jiraiya asked as he clapped his hands together.

"We were just getting to that part when you barged in," Kasai dryly informed the Sennin.

"Before we get into that, I have a question that I need to ask," Inoichi stated before Jiraiya could make a retort. "Kuma, why have you not told your son that you are his father? Why didn't you at least tell him your name?"

"I did not know how to tell Haruo that I am his father and I was uncertain of which name I should give him since I do not know if his mother and stepfather ever mentioned me before they died. I was also far more concerned with getting him comfortable with me and making certain we weren't being followed."

"That's probably for the best; since the child might grow resentful if he knows that his father is not raising him," Kasai pointed out. "The fact that they share the same Kekkei Genkai is excuse enough to have Kuma spend time with him each every couple of days so that he can train him in order to prevent mishaps."

"Who are you going to have raise the child then?"

"He'll be placed in one of the village's orphanages."

"Are you certain that's wise?" Tokage inquired from where he'd been listening to the conversation from beside the door.

"Yes, placing him with a family will only draw attention to him because he'll be appearing from out of nowhere. The orphanages pick up new kids all the time so his presence won't raise any flags. There's also the fact that it would be far easier for Kuma to sneak the child out of an orphanage periodically than it would be for him to regularly show up at one of our homes to train his son."

"There's also the fact that his mother's spirit specifically stated her son would be raised in an orphanage if he was not raised by his father or his previous guardians," Inoichi added on the heels of Kasai's explanation.

"How will you keep the boy's frequent disappearances from being noticed and commented upon?" Tokage asked next.

"I will leave a Moku Bunshin in his place on the days I take him."

"We'll also need to set up a place where he can grow a secret garden," Inoichi stated and Tenzou nodded in agreement; he hadn't forgotten the promise he'd given to his son. "Not only did Kuma promise him he would bring him to a place where he grow whatever he wanted, the child is convinced that anyone who knows what he can do with the plants will take that away from him. And we can't just let him grow things anywhere he pleases because it will draw far too much attention to him."

"I can seal off one of the abandoned training grounds in one of the less populated districts of the village," Jiraiya offered before anyone else could make a suggestion. "Sensei won't care if we commandeer one of the unused fields and it could also double as a refuge for the munchkin if trouble finds him once he's old enough to venture out of the orphanage on his own or with his future friend."

"That just leaves security," Kasai stated as he drew out a stack of forms from his desk.

"The toads will watch over him; we can set up sentries around the orphanage once you decide which one you will be placing him in," Fukasaku stated without hesitation. "No one would look twice at a toad."

"I could also leave a Moku Bunshin to stand guard on the days when I am not training him."

"It might also be advisable to place a locator seal on the child in the event that someone gets through the loose security net that you are setting up or when he inevitably gets lost once he starts exploring the village on his own," Inoichi interjected on the heels of Tenzou's statement. "If you link the seal to a map of the village and include five to ten miles of forest immediately outside of the defensive walls, then you could find his exact location in a single glance."

"Any objections?" Kasai inquired as he glanced around the group of conspirators that were in the office. "No? Then let's get this done, maggots; I want everything set and ready to go by supper time. Tenzou, fill out these forms. Inoichi, start working on contingency plans we can use when things go south. Jiraiya, start working on the locator seal before you go set up an empty field for the gaki. And, Tokage, I want you to do a background check on the village's three orphanages to determine which one will be the best option."

"Who's going to keep an eye on the child?" Tokage asked as Kasai dropped the barrier so he could leave.

"We will," Shima stated from her perch on Haruo's lap. The toad then glanced up at Tenzou as she asked, "Do you have any objections to us testing the tadpole's chakra control?"

"He's three; his control is terrible," Tenzou deadpanned as he dug a few of his tracking seeds out of his utility pouch and passed them to the female toad. "However, I don't mind if you supervise him while he works on his control. The goal is for him to grow one seed into a small tree and then reverse the growth to return it to its original state. He knows the basics but I've only worked with him on the exercise once. The extra seeds are in case he destroys the first one."

Tenzou then knelt down to get his son's attention before he stated, "_Haruo, I have to fill out some paperwork so we can get you set up in your new home. While I do that, I want you to practice growing and ungrowing a seed like we did the other day. Shima and Fukasaku, the toads, will help you if you get stuck._"

"_Okay,_" Haruo agreed readily enough as he took one of the seeds from Shima's hand and promptly grew the small seed into a small maze of twisted branches.

Those who had not previously seen Haruo's use of the Mokuton stared at the visible proof of his parentage before they shook themselves out of their stupor and got down to business. Tenzou watched his son for another minute before he turned his attention to the forms that Kasai had passed him. It only took a brief glance to determine that the forms he had been given were the basic citizenship forms that were used to create a person's identification papers. Tenzou had filled out that form close to three dozen times; ten times for himself (and his various aliases) and the rest for individuals he'd brought back to Konoha on missions.

It only took him five minutes to fill out the current form since his son was still a minor. He then spent the next hour running errands for Kasai and collecting supplies for Haruo (such as new clothes, shoes, a stuffed cat, a couple of beginner reading primers, and basic training equipment). He was then required to tag along with Jiraiya in order to secure a training ground for Haruo to use as a private garden, training ground, and personal sanctuary. The first two they looked at were way too small and Tenzou quickly pointed that out to the Sennin.

Jiraiya insisted on claiming the smaller of the two anyway as an alternate training ground just in case the kid went overboard once he started filling up his future garden. Tenzou accepted that readily enough since it meant his son would have an alternate refuge in the event that the other one was compromised. The last and largest field they visited would then be sealed off next. The area was large enough that Tenzou could and did divide it into five separate areas (four for Haruo to do with what he wanted and the final one set aside for a training arena). There was even enough room for him to put up a storage shed for Haruo's training equipment so there was no need to lug it about all the time.

When he finally made it back to Kasai's office later that afternoon, Tenzou found his son curled up in a spare sleeping bag on the floor out cold. Shima was sitting beside the three year old while Fukasaku was sitting on the end of the sleeping bag debriefing a dozen and a half ordinary looking toads. It didn't take Tenzou long to realize that the group of unassuming toads was meant to be yet another layer of Haruo's security detail. The twenty year old briefly wondered if they were being overly paranoid before common sense reasserted itself; it was not paranoia if they really were out to get you.

And Tenzou had enemies enough to warrant the multiple security measures that were being put into place to protect his defenseless son. There were also far too many people that would love to get their hands on the Mokuton to either unravel the secrets of the Shodai Hokage's vaunted Kekkei Genkai or to mold the child into a formidable weapon. The child's untrained birthright from his mother only complicated matters further. Thinking of Haruo's so called mahou made Tenzou wonder how he would go about teaching his son to use that particular gift.

It was that concern that saw the young man crouching down beside the female toad to ask, "Shima-sama, what do the toads know about training a Trueborn Sage to use their mahou? Is it anything like teaching an aspiring shinobi to mold their chakra?"

"Nothing; though the Sage Arts are based off of their ability to take in natural energy. It has been nearly a thousand years since any summons has had any contact with a Trueborn and even then, they would not have dealt with an untrained Trueborn; let alone a child as young as your son. I would suggest waiting until the child is older before you worry about teaching him to use an energy you know nothing about. For all I know, the child might have been born with the instincts necessary for him to use and control his mahou once he reaches a certain age."

"Arigatou," Tenzou automatically replied as he tried not to feel frustrated over the lack of a definitive answer. He could always return to England and interrogate Lily's sister for information if it became necessary. Or he could try to locate the mysterious R. J. Lupin to find out what he knows the next time he was sent to England on a mission.

Forty-five minutes after that conversation, the last of the preparations had been completed and Tenzou collected his son so that he could deliver the three year old to the orphanage that would be his home for at least the next seven years. Even though he knew this was the best option given their circumstances, Tenzou couldn't help but feel that he was letting his son down by giving him up. He only hoped Haruo would forgive him when the boy inevitably learned that he was his biological father.

Letting out a sigh of resignation, Tenzou doubled checked to make certain he had all of Haruo's things before he headed out of Kasai's office once more. Just before he passed through the door, Kasai called his name.

"Kuma."

"Nani?"

"If this turns out badly, I'm going to see to it that you spend the rest of your life clearing out clogged toilets with your Mokuton."

"Wakatta, Kasai-sama," Tenzou replied as he tried not to cringe over the very real threat.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Arigatou – thank you  
Chikushou – damn/damn it  
Gama Sennin – Toad Sage  
Nani – what  
Wakatta – I understand/understood

* * *

**AN:** _And now we see that the toads have been one step ahead of everyone else and a non-canon explanation of why the Summoning Clans exist, how their world was created, and how the Elemental Nations are separated from the rest of the world. On top of that, I believe that I have taken a unique approach as to exactly what magic is when compared to chakra. I have seen author's claim it to be nature energy or spiritual energy or chakra or as I have done in the past, an energy completely unrelated to chakra but never have I seen someone have magic be a mix of nature and spiritual energies._

_And I can almost hear people clamoring to know where Juugo fits into the equation since his berserker mode is induced by nature energy/chakra and I will cover that much, much later in the story. All I will say, is that Juugo is NOT a wizard and he is therefore NOT a Trueborn Sage. ~ Jenn_

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	5. Fateful Encounter

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Five: Fateful Encounter

_October 31, 1983, 12:16 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Six year old Uzumaki Naruto scowled as he watched the orphanage's staff hand out treat boxes stuffed full of goodies and toys to the other children that lived in the orphanage. Every year, the villagers donated all kinds of sweets, candies, and toys to the orphanage for each holiday and every festival and those items would be split unevenly between the children. He said unevenly because he had never once (that he could remember) gotten a box full of treats. All he'd ever been given was a box full of stupid tricks; the boxes he was given containing moldy fruit, rotting fish, and trash instead of the snacks, candies, and toys that the kids got.

Even now he could see the 'specially' decorated box that he knew had been set aside for him; it was the only box decorated with evil looking foxes. They always gave him ugly fox themed stuff and since foxes were universally hated in Konoha, he would be made a laughing stock because of the foxes and no kids would want to play with him. Not that the orphanage's staff ever let him play with the other children; they were always putting him in time out for stupid things.

Like breathing too loud or looking at people. Or talking back when he answered a question they had asked him.

Naruto hated the orphanage.

After another minute, Naruto turned his back on the others, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and slunk away; no way was he going to stand there for a box of horrible tricks yet again. He was just thinking about sneaking out through the loose boards in the back fence so he could wander through the village when he caught sight of the new kid slinking around the corner of the playground equipment shed clutching a treat box to his chest. Well, he wasn't really all that new; the boy had been at the orphanage since the end of August but he was still called the new kid by all of the children because he had been the last kid placed in the orphanage.

Naruto rarely ever saw the kid because the staff never let him get close to the other boy. All he really knew was that the staff thought the kid was mentally handicapped or something because he never seemed to understand a word they said. He also never spoke to any of the staff or the other children and never played with anyone. The boy would actually run away from the other children; as if he was scared of them. Being a curious sort of kid and seeing that there were no adults watching him right now, Naruto followed the kid.

Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't the only one to notice the little dark haired child sneaking off with a box of treats; a pair of older boys saw him and they managed to cut the kid off before Naruto could catch up. By the time Naruto had reached the back of the shed, the two eight year olds had knocked the little kid down and stolen his treat box. The moment he saw the tears on the little boy's face, Naruto saw red.

He was no strangers to bullies; he was always bullied by the older kids any time the adults weren't paying attention and the two older boys picking on the new kid had been amongst the most persistent bullies. He didn't care, he always gave as good as he got when they went after him. Seeing them bully another kid, who was nothing more than a baby really (the kid couldn't have been more than two or three years old), just made Naruto mad.

It wasn't right.

"Leave him alone, you overgrown jerks!" Naruto roared as he ran straight at the bigger of the two boys and promptly took him down with a flying tackle. "Why don't you try picking on someone your own size instead of making babies cry with your ugly faces!?"

"Chikushou, how many times do we have to beat your face black and blue before you learn your place, Uzumaki?" the other bully yelled back as he dropped the kid's treat box and leapt into the fray.

Fists, elbows, and knees flew in every which direction as the three boys rolled around on the ground. The world spun around Naruto as the three of them rolled back and forth in a tangle of arms and legs. He let out a grunt of pain two seconds later when a knee smacked into his face and split his lip open. Naruto retaliated by elbowing one of the boys between the legs. Two minutes later, a weak deluge of water blasted the three of them apart. Naruto was the first one to scramble to his feet and he practically groaned when he saw a cat masked shinobi standing on the roof; those guys were always trouble.

The only consolation was that the bullies wouldn't dare try anything now that a shinobi was involved. That had to count for something, he supposed. Naruto's attention was distracted at that moment when something latched onto his legs from behind and he let out a frightened cry as he wobbled precariously in an effort to stay on his feet. Once he regained his balance, he twisted his head and around and froze in shock as he found himself caught up in the vibrant green eyes of a beaming three year old.

"_That was so cool! I didn't know you could fly! Will you teach me how to fly?_" the boy jabbered as he hugged Naruto's legs and Naruto could only stare at the boy in bewilderment because he hadn't understood a single word the kid had said.

The smile then slid off of the boy's face and Naruto felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach; the six year old certain that the boy would run away from him now that he'd recognized Naruto. When the kid dropped his arms away from Naruto's legs, Naruto was certain of it. He was therefore surprised when the smaller boy climbed up Naruto's side and timidly reached out to touch Naruto's bleeding lip as tears gathered in his vibrantly colored eyes.

"_They hurt you. You got hurt because you saved me from the meanies._"

The younger boy then dropped back down to the ground and dove into the bushes without a word. Naruto stared after him; completely confused about what had just happened. When the kid didn't immediately reappear, Naruto glanced around and found the masked ANBU guard looming over the two bullies several feet away. Naruto couldn't hear what was being said but based upon the fact that the two older boys were holding each other and quaking in fear meant that it couldn't be anything good.

He was just wondering if he should disappear while the shinobi's back was to him but forgot all about running off when he felt someone tugging at his pants. Pulling his eyes away from the scene, Naruto glanced down to find the new kid standing beside him once more. The moment their eyes met for the second time, the kid held up a slightly battered treat box covered with cute little black cats. Naruto stared at the box for a split second before he returned his eyes to the kid in confusion as the boy began speaking nonsense (at least that's what it sounded like to Naruto) once more.

"_Here, I want you to have it. You didn't have to save me. It's only fair that you get a reward for that._"

"I don't understand. What is it that you want? Why can't I understand you?"

"He's only just learning how to speak Japanese and whenever he's frightened, angry, or overly excited, he forgets that he's supposed to speak Japanese entirely," the cat masked ANBU stated out of the blue as he suddenly appeared beside the two boys and Naruto jumped in fright and let out a squeal of fright over being snuck up on. "You should take the box; he's giving it to you to thank you for protecting him from the bullies."

"How do you know that?" Naruto demanded as he blinked at the ANBU Guard in surprise before he glanced back down at the box that the kid was trying to push into his hands.

"Simple; I speak many languages," the masked shinobi stated before he squatted down and addressed the child in the same strange nonsensical words that the child had been using. "_Haruo, did the bullies hurt you?_"

"_Not really, they only made me scrap my hands when they pushed me down. Whisker boy saved me and rescued the present that the staff gave me._"

"_I'm glad. Come on; let's go get cleaned up before we start your training._"

"_Okay._"

"_Good. Before we leave, you need to thank your friend, in Japanese this time, and tell him goodbye._"

"Arigatou, yuujin. Ja ne."

Naruto's head bounced back and forth between the kid and the ANBU guard as he listened to them jabbering at each other while he tried to figure out what they were saying. Before he could even begin to guess what they'd been talking about, the boy had thanked him, called him friend, and told him goodbye in broken Japanese. The ANBU Guard had then scooped the green eyed boy up into his arms and disappeared in a swirl of smoke. The last thing he saw was the green-eyed kid smiling at him and waving goodbye. It was only after they had vanished that Naruto realized the younger boy had left his treat box on the ground at Naruto's feet.

"No one's ever given me a thank you gift before, dattebayo," Naruto mumbled to himself as he carefully collected the box and hugged it to his chest. "And he called me friend."

Instead of tearing into the box like any other child would have, Naruto tucked it under his shirt to hide it from the adults as he snuck back into the orphanage. He was going to hide the box in his secret cubby hole so no one could ever steal his first gift from him. He'd open it later; when he was certain that no one would catch him with it. As he slipped through the halls of the orphanage, Naruto couldn't help but wish he could see the kid again. It would have been nice to make a friend; even if it was with a younger boy. He knew the staff would not allow him to be the younger boy's friend though.

Naruto wouldn't see the kid again until supper but there was no chance to get within talking distance of the kid though because one of the staff members was keeping the younger boy on a short leash. Naruto had expected that though and didn't bother even trying. He was far more concerned with the fact that he had not seen the two bullies from earlier since they'd been run off by the cat masked ANBU in any case. He was more than a little worried that they might try to ambush him the first chance they got because he was half the reason why they'd gotten in trouble.

As soon as supper was over, Naruto high tailed it out of the cafeteria and made a beeline for his room. His room was off limits to everyone but the staff (by order of said staff) and it was the one place he knew he'd be safe from the other children. The only time the other children got in trouble for messing with him was when they attempted to corner him in his room; though Naruto had no idea why that was. He still thought it sucked that he was the only one to have a room to himself though. He would have preferred to have a roommate to bunk with because it would have made it less scary at night and because it would have given him a chance to make a friend.

Once in his room, Naruto shut the door and leaned back against it as he let out a sigh of relief; he was safe for now. At least he was until the staff came to collect him for his evening bath or he had to get up and head back to the cafeteria for breakfast in the morning. Scrunching up his nose in distaste, Naruto pushed away from the door and threw himself on his bed. He was just thinking about the gift he'd been given earlier when the door to his room swung open unexpectedly. He knew it wasn't one of the staff members; they wouldn't come get him to take his nightly bath for at least another hour.

"You'd better get out…" Naruto started to growl as he pushed himself up to face what he thought was the two bullies from earlier only for him to fall silent when he found himself facing the little green-eyed boy from earlier.

The boy shyly grinned at Naruto and the six year old gaped at the kid in return. The next thing Naruto knew, the kid was bounding across the room and scrambling up onto the bed beside him. He was then knocked over and had the breath knocked out of him when the kid launched a surprise hug attack from point blank range. It took a moment for Naruto to catch his breath from the unexpected if friendly attack and when he finally lifted his head up, he found the kid securely latched onto his chest watching him with those leaf green eyes.

Unsure of what to do (the kid didn't look like he was going to let go any time soon), Naruto offered up a dazed, "Hello."

"_Bear said you were my friend. Will you teach me how to fly now?_"

"I still can't understand you," Naruto replied as he stared at the hopeful expression on the kid's face. "I don't even know your name." Apparently, the kid didn't understand him any better than Naruto had understood the kid; he just kept staring and smiling at Naruto. Letting out a sigh, Naruto sat up and tried to peel the kid off of him before he gave it up as a lost cause and simply pointed at himself as he declared, "Naruto."

Ten minutes and a half a dozen attempts later, he finally managed to get through to the kid and the younger boy loosened his hold on Naruto long enough to point at himself and state, "Haruo."

Naruto would then spend the next forty five minutes trying to teach the kid Japanese. He did this by pointing or picking up an item and repeating its name over and over until Haruo copied him. At the same time, Haruo taught Naruto the English equivalent for every item and Naruto didn't even realize he was learning a new language at the same time as he was teaching Japanese to his new friend. Instead of being bored with the activity, Naruto found himself enjoying the time spent with the younger boy; just the fact that he had company enough to satisfy him.

Once everything in the room had been named by both boys, they turned the impromptu lesson into a game. The object of the game was to find the item the other boy named. Naruto always used the Japanese names for the objects and Haruo always used the English names; making both boys work hard to remember what everything was called in both languages. Naruto had never had so much fun before and his sapphire blue eyes were sparkling with excitement that was rivaled only by the sheer happiness sparkling in Haruo's emerald eyes.

Sadly, their fun and games would come to an abrupt halt when Nobu, one of three men that worked and lived at the orphanage, stepped into the room to collect Naruto for his bath. The two boys froze mid-step the moment the door opened while Nobu froze in the doorway as his eyes darted between the two of them. After a full minute, Nobu's eyes grew cold as they remained on Naruto.

"Go take your bath, Uzumaki," Nobu ordered and Naruto regretfully grabbed his pajamas before he slipped out of his room. "No, not you, Haruo."

Hearing his new friend's name, Naruto glanced over his shoulder to find that Haruo had attempted to follow him only for Nobu to snag hold of the younger boy. Naruto stopped in his tracks and spun around to face the pair in concern when he saw Haruo trying to wriggle free; his green eyes firmly locked onto Naruto.

"Get moving, Uzumaki," Nobu ordered the moment he noticed that Naruto had stopped walking.

"Haruo hasn't had his bath yet either," Naruto bravely pointed out instead of obeying right away.

"That isn't your conce… itai! What the hell was that!?" Nobu yelped as he suddenly dropped Haruo when a bunch of nasty looking boils formed on his hands and arms out of the blue. Naruto could only gape in shock at the man as his new friend dashed to his side and promptly latched onto Naruto's legs. "Chikushou. Itai, itai… Chikushou. What are you just standing there for, gaki? Go take your bath!"

Confused but not willing to risk the man blaming him for whatever it was that had just happened, Naruto pried Haruo off his legs and dragged the younger boy off to the bathroom. Once they were inside, he let go of Haruo and glanced about the room to make certain that they were alone. He then walked up to a tub and wrinkled his nose at the tepid water; the water was always cold by the time he got his turn. At least it was somewhat clean. There'd been one time when the water had been really gross and the staff member watching him at the time had refused to change the water out just for him.

That man no longer worked at the orphanage; he had in fact disappeared the same night he'd been in charge of Naruto's bath.

Turning his back on the tub of room temperature tub of water, Naruto made his way over to the baskets where they were supposed to put their clothes and got undressed. He was joined a moment later by Haruo and the younger boy clumsily copied him. As they got ready for their bath, Naruto continued the earlier lessons he'd been giving Haruo now that there were new things to name. It helped them both relax after the brief run in with Nobu. The two of them would get into a bit of a water and soap fight while they were washing up but neither one of them minded too terribly much.

After rinsing off, they scrambled into the tub and soon they were happily playing with the water toys that had been left out for once; the staff usually put said toys away long before Naruto got into the tub. Even better was the fact that there was no spiteful staff member glaring down at him and he had a friend to keep him company. Naruto no longer even cared that the kid was like half his age; not that he had really cared about that in the first place. And if Haruo's beaming smile and giggles were anything to go by, the kid was having just as much fun.

They would eventually be ordered out of the tub by an annoyed Nobu over an hour later. Once dressed in his pajamas, Naruto was sent to bed alone while Nobu carried Haruo off to wherever it was that the other kid slept. Naruto sighed as he trudged back to his room alone. He didn't stay sad for too long though; he had finally made a friend. As he dumped his dirty clothes in the clothes hamper, Naruto wondered when he'd get a chance to see Haruo again so that they could continue their game.

For the first time that he could remember, Naruto fell asleep with a smile on his face.

He never even noticed when little Haruo silently slipped back into his room and crawled up into bed with him just half an hour later while a cat masked shinobi watched over both boys from a nearby tree.

* * *

_January 06, 1986, 7:47 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Tenzou tried not to sigh as he watched his five year old son sneak through the back fence that enclosed the orphanage's play yard so he could chase after Uzumaki. Again. Haruo had grown attached to the bewhiskered blond the moment the blond had saved Haruo from a pair of bullies and the two of them had been inseparable ever since. The two of them had then quickly become the biggest pair of troublemakers Tenzou had ever seen. Not a single day went by that one or the other of them hadn't pranked at least one person. Their favorite targets were bullies.

Kasai had not been pleased when he had learned that Haruo's first friend was one Uzumaki Naruto. Oh, his commander had nothing against the prepubescent Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. No, Kasai was upset because Haruo had been thrust into the spotlight the moment he had befriended the older boy. Haruo was supposed to be raised in obscurity to protect him from those that would seek to harm or steal him; not running about drawing the attention of the entire village alongside the most hated and misunderstood child in Konoha.

The fact that Haruo had claimed Uzumaki as his first (and currently only) friend had certainly given those in the know about Haruo's parentage and abilities a better understanding of why they'd been warned not to separate Haruo from his first friend. Though they still weren't certain if it was because Naruto had quickly grown rather attached to the younger boy and proclaimed himself Haruo's protector or because Haruo grew angry far too easily each time someone tried to pry him from Naruto's side for any reason.

It was also obvious that very few people were pleased with the fast friendship between the two boys. The staff that ran the orphanage had done their best to split up the pair the moment they noticed Haruo gravitating towards the blond but the more they tried, the more adamant the two boys had been over continuing their friendship. Tenzou had needed to step in more than once to discourage the staff from taking more drastic measures to separate the two boys; if only to save the staff from the angry outbursts of Haruo's mahou each time they tried.

In some ways, Haruo's friendship with Uzumaki made watching over his son far easier; since it allowed him to openly watch over his son without anyone questioning him. His ANBU Squad had been assigned to watch over the young host of the Kyuubi after the kid's second birthday and they were only rarely pulled from that assignment when their particular skill sets were needed elsewhere. Such as when a mission came in from the Outer Countries.

The only downside to that friendship was the need to inform the rest of his ANBU Squad and the Sandaime Hokage of Haruo's parentage and abilities. The Hokage had been pleased as punch when he had learned that Haruo had an active Mokuton and that Uzumaki had made a friend in the younger boy. Hatake Kakashi (Tenzou's ANBU Captain, code name: Inu-teichou) had not cared one way or the other right up until the first time the two boys had pulled off their first major prank; booby trapping the fences that surrounded the orphanage with balloons of paint that nailed anyone who touched them. Then he'd been annoyed.

Of course, that probably had more to do with the fact that Kakashi had been caught in the trap.

In fact, over the past two years, Kakashi had been caught up in more than two dozen pranks that the two kids had orchestrated. And the funniest part was that the pranks had all been aimed at someone else. You'd think after the first couple of times, that the older man would wise up and pay more attention around the mischievous duo. It wasn't until after Tenzou caught Kakashi lecturing the two boys on the proper way to set traps after he'd bypassed a prank unscathed that he had realized that Kakashi was actually secretly teaching the kids how to make better traps.

Once he'd noticed that, he quickly picked up on the fact that the rest of his teammates were also giving the two boys secret lessons. Uzuki Yuugao (code name: Neko) was giving the boys stealth and evasion tips. Gekkou Hayate (code name: Taka) taught them the ANBU Sign Code. Namiashi Raidou (code name: Yagi) taught them how to read and write in both kanji and romaji. And Shiranui Genma (code name: Karasu) helped the two boys make a detailed mental map of the entire village and how to draw the map from memory.

That was on top of the chakra control lessons that Tenzou was giving both boys. Well, the lessons were originally just for his son (to help him control his Kekkei Genkai) but Haruo insisted on his friend joining him. The first few joint lessons had been huge headaches since Uzumaki had little patience for lectures and instructions.

In the end, it was Haruo that got the rambunctious blond to sit down and pay attention. Tenzou still wasn't certain how his son had managed that. He suspected that it had something to do with the way the two boys would turn any practical lesson they were given into a competitive game. Those two could turn even the most boring exercise on the planet into a game. And had done so every chance they got.

The most surprising thing was how effective a training aide their games turned out to be.

For example, take their language games. Both boys had taught each other to speak their native languages in less than three months. All because they'd made a game out of memorizing the names of anything they could get their hands on in both languages. It had taken them a little longer to learn how to write in both languages but that was not surprising since neither boy had had any kind of formal education at the time (the lessons his squad was giving them didn't quite count). Tenzou had slipped them English workbooks to help them once he'd caught them trying to teach themselves how to read and write in English using the romaji lessons that Raidou was giving them.

Sadly, the time Haruo would have to spend with his friend was about to be cut in half. Uzumaki had been enrolled in the Shinobi Academy and Haruo would not be allowed to join for another two and half, three years. Haruo had not taken the news that he was not allowed to join the Academy at the same time as Naruto very well. Not even Uzumaki's promise to teach him everything he learned during his classes had been able to console the younger boy. Even now, Haruo was determined to follow Uzumaki to class.

Knowing just how stubborn his son could be when told he couldn't do something he wanted to do, Tenzou finally let out the sigh he'd been holding back as he prepared to drop down in order to cut off his son's escape. His plans to detain his son were scuppered before he could start by the arrival of his captain.

"Let him go. Hokage-sama arranged for his early enrollment last night after a surprise visit from Jiraiya-sama; the toads sent another warning against separating the pair for any reason," Inu stated as he reached out and grabbed hold of Tenzou's shoulder. "They added two years to Haruo's age to sneak the enrollment through the administration and both boys are being personally sponsored by Jiraiya; so no one will look twice at them. The compromise for allowing Haruo's early entrance was that neither boy would be allowed to take the Graduation Exam until after Naruto's twelfth birthday."

"Someone is bound to notice that he's far too small to be seven," Tenzou pointed out as he tried not to get frustrated over the fact that his son was being maneuvered into becoming a shinobi three years early; he'd wanted his son to have an actual childhood first so he wouldn't end up as socially and emotionally stunted.

"Possibly but I doubt they will. The entire village has grown used to seeing the two of them together and no one will think twice about them attending the Academy together."

"And what of the staff at the orphanage? They are well aware of Haruo's true age and they are bound to talk once they realize that Haruo is attending classes at the Academy with Naruto."

"Jiraiya is arranging new accommodations for the boys; after today, they will no longer be living at the orphanage. And don't bother trying to protest; you and I both know those two boys are more than capable of taking care of themselves at this point."

"How are they going to support themselves?" Tenzou demanded as he scowled beneath his mask.

"The orphan's stipend that both of them will receive now that they are enrolled in the Academy will be more than enough for them to survive on and Jiraiya has already stated he intended to cover the costs of their housing and utilities until one of them earns their flack jacket or Naruto reaches his sixteenth birthday; whichever comes first. Hokage-sama is going to over-see their finances and deliver their weekly allowance personally in order to prevent someone from pocketing a portion of their funds on the sly. We've also been given clearance to step in if we notice anyone trying to overcharge the boys or try to refuse them service."

"It's times like this that I really hate watching someone else raise my son."

"I feel the same way about Naruto," Inu quietly admitted as they watched Haruo tackle Uzumaki from behind. "I am at least thankful that my honorary otouto met your son."

"Despite how much trouble he has gotten Haruo into since the day they met, Whiskers was the best thing that happened to my son."

"How much longer are you going to keep calling him that?"

"Until he stops calling me Koneko," Tenzou retorted as the two of them began shadowing Haruo and Uzumaki as the two boys on the street stopped playing around and began running in the direction of the Shinobi Academy.

"You can't blame that nickname on Naruto; it was your son that came up with it."

"True, but Haruo never calls me that to my face."

"He doesn't call you Kuma though, either; does he?"

"No, he doesn't. He calls me sensei-nii and no matter how many times I tell him that isn't a proper form of address, he still refuses to call me anything else."

"Does it bother you that he sees you as a cross between an older brother and a teacher instead of as his father?"

"No, not really. If I can't openly claim him as my son, then I will take whatever connection he wishes to form with me."

Inu hummed an acknowledgement before he changed the topic, "When are you going to start teaching him some of your jutsu?"

"Not until he turns eight. I want him to have a good solid foundation in the basics before I start building up his ninjutsu arsenal. His reserves should be large enough and his control good enough to handle some of the lower grade jutsu by then as well."

"How good is his control right now?"

"Around low Genin level and he still loses control if he gets distracted."

"Any luck on harnessing the other side of his gift?" Inu asked next; the older shinobi referring to what the toads still called Haruo's magic.

"No, it's far too reactionary and linked too closely with his emotions right now. That's especially true when he is scared or angry. And the results of his episodes are still far too unpredictable. He turned a civilian's hair bright blue when the man glared at Uzumaki last week and just yesterday, he mired a stray dog in ice when the dog attempted to chase the two boys out of an alley."

"My personal favorite was when he strung those two bullies up in the air by their ankles last year; the look on their faces when they couldn't break free was priceless. Naruto painting them with clown makeup was just icing on the cake."

"As I recall, you weren't quite so fond of that trick when he used it on your first edition copy of Icha-Icha Paradise after you scolded the two of them for filching a pie from the kitchen before lunch three months ago," Tenzou quipped as they landed on the rooftop of the building across the street from the Shinobi Academy when the subjects of their current conversation join the crowd of students milling about outside of the Academy.

"Like you have room to talk; or have you forgotten that time when he drenched you in sticky sap because you refused to let him borrow your mask?"

"It took me two weeks to get that crap out of my hair," Tenzou grumbled as he reflexively reached up to check his hair.

His captain just laughed at him before they both fell silent as the Sandaime Hokage appeared to start the Opening Ceremony for the new term. Twenty minutes later, Tenzou watched as his son happily trailed after Uzumaki as the new and returning students were quickly shuffled into their class groups and led inside by the Chuunin Instructors.

For better or worse, his son had just been drafted into the fast track program that would see him earning his hitai-ate at the tender age of nine.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Arigatou – Thank you  
Chikushou – damn it/damn  
Inu – dog  
Itai – ouch  
Ja ne – see you later or see you then and a shortened form of jaamata ashita (very casual) &amp; can also be written as ja na  
Karasu – crow  
Koneko – kitten  
Kuma – bear  
Neko – cat  
Nobu – Japanese boy's name meaning prolong  
Taka – hawk  
Yagi – goat

**Notes:**

ANBU Squads – I have taken the liberty to assign six guards to an ANBU Squad rather than just four as that would allow them to rotate who was on duty at any given time and also allow for those times when a member was called away for another mission. That way, there would also always be four members available for missions even if the other two members were sick, injured, on another mission, or reassigned to another squad for any reason. I also had no idea just how many members make up a squad in canon and so deviated from the usual four-man squad I have often used or read about in FanFiction.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	6. The Trouble with Tests

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Six: The Trouble with Tests

_December 15, 1989, 02:15 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Nine year old Haruo sank lower in his seat as he watched yet another classmate walk through the testing room door while he tried to ignore the way Naruto squirmed and twitched in the seat beside him. Today was the day of the Graduation Exam and Haruo was absolutely terrified. Oh, he wasn't worried about the exam; he'd already passed the first three parts of the test (written, taijutsu, and shurikenjutsu) and all that remained was the ninjutsu test and he was confident that he could pass that without a problem.

So, no; he wasn't worried at all about the exam.

What frightened him was the possibility that Naruto would fail the ninjutsu portion of the test because of his poor chakra control (something that couldn't really be helped due to how large his chakra reserves were). The ninjutsu test was the test that would determine whether or not a student passed the Graduation Exam and earned their hitai-ate. The scary part was if Naruto didn't pass, then he wouldn't get a hitai-ate and then they would be split up. And there was nothing that terrified Haruo more than being separated from his first and only friend.

"Don't worry so much, Haruo," Naruto blurted out as the older boy turned to flash a wide grin at Haruo. "This will be a piece of cake; you'll see! We'll both pass no problem; they'd be fools not to see how awesome we are, dattebayo!"

"As if!" Inuzuka Kiba, a scruffy looking boy with fang-like tattoos on his face and a white puppy (named Akamaru) on his head, scoffed loudly. "You suck at ninjutsu even worse than you suck at anything that requires you to use your brain, dobe."

"No one asked for your opinion, dog breath," Naruto fired right back as he turned around to glare at the other boy. "And I'm not dead last! I beat you in taijutsu and shurikenjutsu so that makes you the dobe."

"If the two of you don't stop fighting, I _will_ kick you both out and make you wait another year before allowing you to take the Graduation Exam again!" Umino Iruka, the Chuunin Instructor of their class, threatened as he stuck his head out of the testing room to call up the next student. "Haruo; you're up next."

"Good luck, buddy," Naruto offered with a grin as Haruo shakily climbed to his feet while Iruka-sensei withdrew his head from the room.

Haruo nodded and took two steps towards the testing room before he turned back and blurted out in English, "_Don't forget what sensei-nii taught us when it's your turn._"

"_I won't,_" Naruto replied in kind as he grinned and flashed the victory sign.

Haruo smiled and shook his head over Naruto's silliness before he made his way to the testing room. As he pulled the door open, Haruo glanced back towards Naruto one last time before he reluctantly stepped into the room. Inside, he found Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei seated behind a table at the front of the room. Swallowing thickly, Haruo closed the door and timidly approached the table to find out what he needed to do for the test.

"Relax, Haruo-kun; I'm sure you'll do just fine," Iruka warmly assured the nervous nine year old as he offered the nine year old a reassuring smiled. "Are you ready now? Then let's get started; your test is to use the Henge no Jutsu to transform yourself into the Sandaime Hokage."

Haruo felt his worries melt away the moment he heard the name of the jutsu they were being tested on; the Henge no Jutsu was Naruto's best jutsu. He then smiled as he formed the necessary hand seals before he silently applied a henge to transform himself into the Hokage as requested. A poof of smoke later, and Sarutobi Hiruzen (the Sandaime Hokage) dressed in the white robes and hat of his office was standing in the room in Haruo's place. A single plume of smoke wound around the illusion as it poured forth from the pipe hanging from the illusion's mouth.

"Very good, Haruo-kun; you pass," Iruka praised as he smiled again.

Haruo smiled again as he dropped the henge and stepped forward to collect the shiny new hitai-ate that Mizuki was holding out to him. He was then directed to leave the room through another door as Iruka got up to call the next student into the room. Haruo stepped out into the hallway and promptly seated himself on the floor beside the door so that he could wait for Naruto. There was no way that Naruto would fail the test if all he had to do was transform into the Hokage.

Too bad no one had warned Haruo that each student would be asked to perform a different ninjutsu (all selected from what were commonly called the Academy Three) for their test.

To help pass the time, Haruo intently studied his hitai-ate; tracing his finger over the stylized leaf that was etched into the metal plate attached the center of the headband. Haruo just loved how everything in Konoha was connected to nature; even the village's name. He only wished there were more people that could use the Mokuton so that he didn't have to hide his ability from most everyone. Keeping secrets was hard. At least he didn't have to keep any secrets from Naruto.

Each time the door opened, Haruo would eagerly glance up from his hitai-ate in the hopes that Naruto would be the next one to step out of the room. Unfortunately, Iruka-sensei was calling the students in to take the test in alphabetical order; meaning that Naruto would be one of the very last ones to take the test. Once Uchiha Sasuke had stoically exited the room with a hitai-ate affixed to his forehead, Haruo jumped to his feet and eagerly watched the door; he knew Naruto would be the next one out since he was the last kid with a last name that started with the letter 'U' in the class.

After ten minutes had passed without a boisterous Naruto bounding out of the testing room with a hitai-ate in hand, Haruo felt his earlier fears return with a vengeance. The rock in his stomach grew even heavier when the door finally opened two minutes later as another kid's whose name he couldn't recall left the room. That fear soon set his magic to thrumming in agitation beneath his skin when Yamanaka Ino (the last student in their class) left the room with a hitai-ate in hand followed by Iruka and Mizuki.

A quick glance between the two Chuunin revealed an empty room behind them and Haruo felt his lungs seize up over the knowledge that Naruto was no where to be found.

"What are you still doing here, Haruo-kun?" Iruka-sensei asked in confusion while Mizuki hurried off without a word.

"Naruto…?" Haruo asked instead, his eyes pleading with his instructor.

The man closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh before he answered, "He was upset when he didn't pass and he took off out the window the moment his test was over."

"He… didn't… pass…?" Haruo repeated in shock. "Why? Naruto's henge is perfect!"

"He wasn't tested on the Henge no Jutsu. Everyone was asked to do a different jutsu for the exam. Naruto-kun was given the Bunshin no Jutsu and he failed to produce even a single usable Bunshin."

"That's stupid! How could you be so mean? The Bunshin no Jutsu is the only jutsu that Naruto couldn't get because he has too much chakra! Why couldn't you test him on a jutsu he could use?" Haruo demanded as angry tears gathered in his eyes. "I bet you just failed him on purpose 'cause you're mean like all the other teachers. If Naruto didn't pass, then I didn't either! I refuse to wear a hitai-ate until Naruto can wear one too."

And with that angry declaration, Haruo chucked his hitai-ate at the Chuunin as hard as he could and hit the man in the forehead with it. His magic, stirred by his anger and fear, hit the man next and shoved him into the door behind him hard enough to make him see stars when he struck his head on the door at the same time as it painted the Chuunin's skin lime green and turned his uniform bright orange. Haruo hadn't stuck around to see the results of his minor tantrum; as soon as he'd launched the forehead protector at Iruka, he'd taken off running so he could hunt down his friend.

The first place Haruo checked was the tree swing out in front of the Academy; that was one of their favorite places to hang around and wait for each other if either of them had a detention after class. Naruto wasn't there though and Haruo bit his lip in uncertainty as he tried to think of where else Naruto might have gone if he was upset. After a moment's hesitation, he darted around to the training yard attached to the Shinobi Academy on the off-chance that Naruto had decided to take his failure out on one of the training posts.

He wasn't there either.

By the time he checked the roof of the Academy (in case he'd gone up there to sulk out of sight of the other children), the rock in Haruo's stomach had grown so large and heavy that he could barely breathe. The only reason he hadn't broken down started bawling his eyes out was because he needed to find Naruto. Then he'd clobber the blond over the head for leaving him alone before he cried his little heart out over how rotten and unfair it was that the instructors at the Academy all picked on his only friend.

It wasn't that Haruo was a big baby; he just didn't handle solitude very well. He also couldn't stand being separated from Naruto. There had been quite a few adults that had grown frustrated with him because he constantly chased after the older boy but he ignored them and their complaints. Haruo couldn't explain why he needed to stay by Naruto's side no matter what but he knew he had to. He felt safe when he was with Naruto. The very air hummed with energy when they were together and the warmth he [Naruto] projected was comforting.

And right now, Haruo was cold and alone as he raced through the streets searching for his missing friend.

After close to two hours of searching without any luck, Haruo dejectedly made his way home to the apartment that he shared with Naruto. He spared a brief glance towards the rooftops and wished that Inu, Neko, Taka, Karasu, Yagi, Kuma, or even some of the toads still watched over him and Naruto. If one of the masked shinobi or the amphibious summons had been present, they would have quickly told him where to find Naruto. They hadn't had babysitters since Haruo's eighth birthday though. And it had been nearly a month since the last time he'd seen Kuma for a lesson.

As he stumbled to a stop in front of his apartment door, Haruo let out a tremulous sigh that was half sob as he reached up to scrub the tears from his face. He then dug out the key (Naruto was not allowed to carry it because he always lost it – which was why Haruo hadn't bothered to look for the other boy at home first) and unlocked the door. Once inside the apartment, Haruo mechanically made his way to the bedroom; the nine year old intent on throwing himself on the bed and having a pity party. He was so wrapped up in his misery that he didn't immediately notice that he was not alone.

It wasn't until a loud curse issued forth from the closet that Haruo registered the fact that someone was in his and Naruto's bedroom. Whipping around, the nine year old fell into a defensive stance as his heart rate shot through the roof only for his hands to drop back down to his side the moment he recognized the orange clad figure half buried in a pile of junk that had fallen from the top shelf. Haruo sagged in pure relief now that he'd finally found Naruto. Two seconds later, he was pissed as all hell as he recalled how the older boy had left the Academy without him.

Growling in the back of his throat, Haruo stalked up to Naruto and promptly gave him a swift kick in the butt that had the blond yelping in pain both from the kick and from the fact that his head smacked into the back of the closet as a result of said kick. The nine year old then stormed into the kitchen and began banging the pots and pans around as he started supper. He sensed Naruto entering the kitchen a couple of minutes later and it took every ounce of his will power not to fly across the room and latch onto him.

"What the hell did you kick me for, Haruo?" Naruto loudly demanded a split second later.

Haruo glanced over his shoulder and sent Naruto a glare that froze the twelve year old in his tracks as he hissed out an angry, "You ditched me. I waited for you and you left me there all alone. I waited and waited outside the test room door for almost an hour and then I spent two hours running all over the village looking for you because I didn't think you'd break into the apartment when I had the key and I couldn't find you."

Haruo had a brief glimpse of a stricken expression forming on Naruto's face before he snapped his head back around to stare at the pan of water on the stove. It wasn't more than two seconds later that he was being wrapped up in Naruto's arms as the taller boy hugged him tightly from behind.

"I'm so sorry, Haruo. I didn't mean to leave without you. I was just so angry about failing the test. I meant to meet you at the swing but you weren't there and I waited there for you but then Mizuki-sensei turned up and he wanted to talk to me and I got all excited about the make-up test he told me about. He felt really bad about us getting split up because you passed and I didn't. You know I'd never leave you behind on purpose, dattebayo."

"I'm still mad," Haruo mumbled as he twisted around in Naruto's arms and buried his face against Naruto's chest. "I'm glad I finally found you though. I hate it when I can't sense you nearby."

"I know you do. And I really am sorry. I promise not to do it again."

"You better not."

"I won't. Not unless someone knocks me out and drags me off against my will."

"Don't even joke about that," Haruo groused as he sucker punched Naruto in the stomach.

"Itai… I really wish you wouldn't do that," Naruto huffed in a strained voice.

"Then don't tempt the gods when you open your mouth."

"Okay. Are you going to be alright now?"

"Maybe."

"What are you making for supper?" Naruto asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

"I was going to make steamed vegetables and rice because I was mad at you but I don't want to hear you whine so I guess we can just have ramen tonight instead."

"Chicken or beef?" Naruto inquired as he vanished from Haruo's side and reappeared in front of the cupboard where they stored the instant ramen cups; Naruto really loved ramen.

"Is there any shrimp left or did you eat the last of them the other day?"

"There's one left; did you want it?"

"We can share it."

"Yosh!"

Six minutes later, the two of them were seated side by side at the kitchen table chowing down on instant ramen in companionable silence. They made short work of the five cups of ramen and by the time Haruo drank down the last of his broth, his earlier anger had disappeared entirely; he never could stay mad at Naruto for long. As soon as he noted that Naruto had finished as well, Haruo collected the empty styrofoam cups and tossed them out before he cleaned up the rest of the kitchen while Naruto watched him with a puzzled frown from the table.

"Haruo, where is your hitai-ate?"

"I don't have it anymore."

"What do you mean you don't have it anymore? Did a bully take it from you?"

"I got mad at Iruka-sensei when he told me that he made you do the Bunshin no Jutsu for your test so I threw the hitai-ate at him and told him that I wasn't going to wear one until you wore one."

"Haruo!" Naruto exclaimed in pleased surprise before a look of horror passed over his face. "You have to go get it back! I'm taking the make-up test tonight and you're going to need it after I pass!"

"No way, what if someone else purposefully makes you fail again? Everyone knows you can't make a Bunshin and I bet they gave you that as part of your test to make you fail on purpose. No, if you're going to take the make-up test, then I'll just take it with you. That way we can either both pass together or we'll both fail together."

"But… but… I'm not supposed to tell anyone about the make-up test! Mizuki-sensei said I'd fail if I talked about it."

"Well, I'm not anyone. I'm Haruo and he should know we do everything together. Or are you going to ditch me again just to take a stupid test?"

"No, I'm not going to leave you again, dattebayo," Naruto hastily refuted.

"Good, 'cause I'd have to kick your butt again if you even tried. What do we have to do for the make-up test?"

"It's a practical test; I have to… ano, that is, I mean _we_ have to prove that we have the skills needed to do missions and stuff. It's supposed to be a fake mission that's just like a real mission and if we complete the mission, we pass the test."

"So what do we have to do?"

"Mizuki-sensei said I… er, I mean we have to sneak into the Hokage's Tower, collect a special scroll that was made just for the test, escape to the unused training ground using the map he gave me, and learn one jutsu from the scroll before the sun rises tomorrow morning. If we get caught taking the scroll or if we don't learn the jutsu in time, we fail the test. And if we tell anyone else, we fail."

"That doesn't sound too hard. We sneak into the Hokage's Tower all the time."

"I know. The hard part is going to be avoiding the guards patrolling the hallways."

"We'll have to wear something different for the test," Haruo pointed out as he eyed the orange, blue, and white tracksuit that Naruto had been wearing for three years now. Haruo's tracksuit was similar in design but his was mostly brown and green with white accents. Both of them practically swam in the tracksuits; but that only made it easier to hide prank and trap supplies in their clothes. "Do we still have those dark blue pants and shirts that sensei-nii gave us on your birthday this year?"

"Yeah, that was what I was digging for in the closet when you kicked me earlier."

"And do you still have the face paint from Halloween? Or did we use that all up when we pranked those two jerks at the gate for picking on Inu-chan?"

"We only have the white and red left."

"That sucks, that means we'll have to use mud to hide our faces. You didn't spill my jar of scentless dirt when you made a mess of the closet did you?"

"I don't think I did. Do you still have that spool of trip wire?"

"Yeah, I put it under the bed," Haruo replied as the two of them headed towards the bedroom to prepare for their 'mission'. "I have the exploding paint tags under there too. Do you know which room the scroll is being kept in?"

"The Hokage's Vault; where jijii keeps his crystal ball when he's not using it to spy on the hot springs. Do you want to grab the scroll or do you want to set up the traps?"

"We need to stay together. We can set the traps up on the outside of all the windows and doors before we grab the scroll and then we can finish setting the trap on our escape route on the way out."

"Wouldn't it be faster to split up?"

"I don't care. I don't want to be alone again."

"Okay, we'll stick together," Naruto quickly agreed as he began collecting seemingly random items from the pile of junk on the closet floor. "Do you remember how many windows are on the Tower?"

"Twenty-one on the center building and twelve on each of the smaller ones; so forty-five altogether," Haruo absently answered as he counted up the number of paint-bomb tags they had on hand. "We have enough paint tags to trap half of the windows, so we'll need something else for the rest of them."

"We've got fifteen sap tags in the bottom drawer of our dresser," Naruto replied as he pulled out a large jar filled with what looked like dark brown dust. "We should also still have some of the glue bombs that you made for that prank we played on the Chuunin Instructors for your birthday."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about those. Ne, ne; does that mean we still have the extra confetti balloons too?"

"I think we have three… maybe four. Those should be in the secret compartment in the couch. If not, we have a ton of glitter and plenty of empty balloons."

"That should be enough to cover the rest of the windows and all eight doors then," Haruo mused as he collected the sap tags, empty balloons, a funnel, and the bottles of glitter that were hidden in the dresser. "What time is it?"

"Five-fifty-nine; why?"

"The sun will rise at exactly six-seventeen tomorrow morning. That gives us two hours to prep the traps, ten minutes to reach the Hokage's Compound, an hour to set up the traps, fifteen minutes to grab the scroll and get out, ten minutes to reach our hidden training field, eight hours to learn a jutsu each, and ten minutes to reach the meeting place with a thirty-one minutes cushion in case we run into trouble at any point."

"You know I really hate it when you do that, dattebayo," Naruto huffed in annoyance.

"What can I say, I like numbers and time is nothing but numbers no matter which way you look at it."

"Whatever."

"Less complaining and more preparing!" Haruo ordered with a laugh; Naruto had always hated the academic side of their education while Haruo had thrived on it. The only reason Naruto had ever learned anything during class was because of the games the two of them made out of all their lessons.

An hour and forty-five minutes later, the two boys changed their clothes, painted their faces with mud, gathered up their supplies, and slipped out through the window to start their test.

* * *

_December 15, 1989, 03:49 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

It took close to three minutes for Iruka to stop seeing stars after he'd been slammed into the door by an unseen wind. He had been completely caught off guard by Haruo's unexpected little tantrum; the green-eyed boy was usually rather even-tempered if a little mischievous. In fact, in the last four years, he'd never once seen Haruo lose his temper. Oh, he'd heard rumors of what the boy could do or say if someone upset him but Iruka had taken those stories with a grain of salt.

Glancing down at the bright green color of his skin and the eye-blinding orange of his uniform, Iruka realized that those rumors had actually downplayed Haruo's temper.

That or no one else had pissed off the kid to the same extent.

Reaching up, Iruka ran a hand over the back of his head and winced when his fingers encountered a large knot where his head had connected to the door. He then glanced down at himself and let out a sigh as he took in his altered appearance once more. Iruka briefly marveled at Haruo's ability to cast a triple attack before he recalled what had triggered the attack in the first place. Pushing away from the door, Iruka bent down to pick up the list of test results that he'd dropped earlier and immediately froze when he saw the abandoned hitai-ate sitting on the floor.

As he slowly lifted the headband from the floor, Iruka couldn't help but recall Haruo's angry words upon learning that Naruto had failed the Graduation Exam because he couldn't create even a single usable Bunshin.

"_That's stupid! How could you be so mean? The Bunshin no Jutsu is the only jutsu that Naruto couldn't get because he has too much chakra! Why couldn't you test him on a jutsu he could use? I bet you just failed him on purpose 'cause you're mean like all the other teachers. If Naruto didn't pass, then I didn't either! I refuse to wear a hitai-ate until Naruto can wear one too."_

"He's right, it wasn't fair," Iruka murmured under his breath. "Why didn't I notice that sooner? I know Naruto-kun can't perform the Bunshin. That jutsu was something he'd had trouble with right from day one. So why did I test him on that? Even if he failed the written test, he did well enough in taijutsu and shurikenjutsu that he would have scraped out a passing grade if he'd gotten the ninjutsu portion. I never thought I would purposefully fail any student and yet that was exactly what I did today."

A frown tugged at Iruka's lips in response to that realization. The frown was still there long after he'd gathered up the scattered papers and returned to his classroom. He completely ignored the clashing color of his skin and clothes as he stared at the scuffed hitai-ate that Haruo had thrown at him. The slightly crumpled corner of the metal plate on the headband coincided with the small dent right in the center of Iruka's forehead protector; the damage on both hitai-ate a silent testament to Haruo's throwing accuracy and anger augmented strength.

It wasn't the physical results of Haruo's tantrum that Iruka was still dwelling on though. He was still hung up on the eleven year old's angry words (the Chuunin unaware of Haruo's true age). It was actually only one sentence that kept ringing through Iruka's mind.

"_I bet you just failed him on purpose 'cause you're mean like all the other teachers."_

Something in the way that sentence was worded wouldn't leave Iruka alone. It wasn't that the child had called him mean; far too many children had called him mean in the past five years for him to be bothered by something so trivial. No, it was the fact that Haruo had specifically said that he was mean _like all the other teachers_. That implied that the other Chuunin Instructors had been mean or that they had been mean to one, possibly two, students. And if Iruka was a betting man, he would have placed his next three paychecks on that student being Naruto based upon the fact that Haruo had been angry over the fact that Iruka had failed Naruto.

Iruka clenched his jaw and pressed his lips tightly together as he ran through the implications if that was true. He then cut his eyes to the left to the stack of written exams that he had graded earlier. His hands reached out and started thumbing through the stack before he realized what he was doing. It only took him a couple of minutes to find Naruto's test and he stared at the red slashes that marked up more than two-thirds of the paper. Iruka then spent several minutes carefully reading through the answers that Naruto had written down.

When he finished, Iruka sighed in frustration because the answers were still so obviously wrong despite the fact that they were well written and appeared well thought out. He froze the moment he realized how strange it was that Naruto would give such detailed answers if he didn't know the actual answer to the question. Had he thought the answers wouldn't be read? No, if that was the case, he doubted the answers would make as much sense as they did. No, there was something else going on with Naruto's test.

Knowing that, Iruka carefully dissected the first wrong answer very carefully in order to locate a clue. He found it when he found the faint traces of chakra clinging to the paper. Genjutsu. Someone had purposefully sabotaged Naruto's test and because the kid was hopeless when it came to genjutsu, he never would have noticed anything wrong. A closer look at the rest of the test revealed additional threads of chakra spread over more than half of the questions; all of them so faint they were barely there. He spent another twenty minutes checking some of the other students' tests but none of the others had been tampered with as far as he could tell.

His next course of action was to determine exactly what questions Naruto had been answering. He would find that information when he pulled out the Academy's originals for the written tests that were used during the Chuunin Exams after he'd combed through the other versions of the Genin tests. It only took him another ten minutes to match up the questions and answers and when he did, he was mildly surprised to find that Naruto had answered all but two of them correctly. Iruka had then sat at his desk and wondered how in the hell he'd missed such blatant sabotage.

It wasn't until he ran his hand over the back of his head and accidentally brushed against the knot on the back of his head that the most obvious answer came to him. He'd been placed under a subtle genjutsu that impaired his judgment. And the only reason he'd been knocked out of it was because Haruo had busted the back of his head in his tantrum. The only question that remained was how long someone had been toying with his perception. And the best way to determine that was to check all of the tests that Naruto had taken since he started at the Academy (seeing as how the perpetrator seemed to have only targeted the hyperactive and potentially color-blind blond).

He would eventually check through all of the tests from those students that had been in his class for tampering during the break between terms upon the request of the Hokage.

It took the twenty-four year old Chuunin an hour and forty-five minutes to determine that someone had been persistently sabotaging Uzumaki Naruto for three years. It was blatantly obvious since the marks for the tests that Naruto had taken in his first year had been consistently high before his grades had taken a steep nosedive at the start of his second year. A heavy rock settled in Iruka's stomach as he immediately realized that the only staffing change that had occurred at the Academy during that year had been Touji Mizuki being reassigned as Iruka's class aide.

Iruka felt conflicted the moment he realized that. Mizuki had been a close friend of his for years.

_Who else could have gotten close enough to get the drop on me?_ Iruka thought to himself just a few seconds later and deep down he knew that Mizuki was more than capable of carrying grudges and he knew that Mizuki hated the Kyuubi because his aunt had died during the Kyuubi's attack twelve years earlier. _What could he possibly gain by sabotaging Naruto's grades though? It doesn't make sense. It's not like his actions would hurt the Kyuubi. That also doesn't rule out the possibility that someone merely used Mizuki's form to trick me either._

Iruka climbed to his feet in order to track down his friend so that he could confront him and find out if it really had been Mizuki interfering with Naruto's education but froze when his eyes landed on Haruo's discarded hitai-ate. While he would have preferred to get answers now, he knew there was something he had to do first. Iruka took a moment to collect all of Naruto's old tests, the sample Chuunin tests, Haruo's hitai-ate, and a spare hitai-ate for Naruto before he began making his way to the Hokage Tower; he needed to speak to the Hokage.

And then he would need to track down his most troublesome students and give them their hitai-ate alongside of an apology for failing them as badly as he had.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Itai – ouch  
Ne, ne – one way of getting someone's attention, can be a sort of childish way of saying Hey, hey  
Yosh(i) – an enthusiastic affirmative; can be translated as yes, okay, alright, etc

**Notes:**

There were quite a few deviations from canon in this chapter; starting with the fact that I made it so that not all of the prospective Genin are tested on the same exact academy level ninjutsu during the graduation exam. It's supposed to be random but obviously, Naruto's test was rigged since Mizuki knew the Bunshin was Naruto's weak point and he needed Naruto to fail if he was going to use him.

Other changes made were the cliché sabotaging of Naruto's written tests. Haruo's presence and the fact that he helps Naruto learn the material worked against Mizuki, so he had to do something to prevent him from passing. And there there's the part where I had Iruka being caught up in a rather subtle genjutsu that prevented him from questioning certain things in relationship to Naruto's grades and classwork (and possibly the grades and classwork of other students). I believe that this is a real possibility since I'd like to think that Iruka would have noticed Mizuki's suspicious behavior otherwise.

Of course, there will be some people that will cry foul and say that Iruka should have been able to unknowingly knock himself out of the genjutsu when teaching his students about their chakra or about genjutsu. I will of course, point out the fact that Mizuki worked alongside of Iruka and was considered his friend outside of work; so he would have had ample opportunity to reapply the genjutsu as many times as necessary. There's also the fact that it was only really necessary for the genjutsu to be active at certain points (such as during tests or when grading papers).

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	7. A Question of Loyalty

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Seven: A Question of Loyalty

_December 15, 1989, 09:10 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo couldn't help but shiver as he kept watch through the open vault door while Naruto collected the scroll they were supposed to 'steal'. A small part of him couldn't help but think there was something wrong with taking something from the Hokage's Vault; even if it was just supposed to be some sort of test. He shrugged off the feeling a split second later; their teacher wouldn't have lied to them, right? Well, he wouldn't have lied to Naruto… since Haruo wasn't even supposed to be there.

A frown briefly crossed Haruo's face as he recalled that it had been Mizuki-sensei that had told Naruto about the make-up test. He used to think that Mizuki hated Naruto but if he had offered him a chance to take a make-up test, then did that mean his earlier behavior was just an act? Shaking away the stray thought, Haruo refocused his attention on the empty office outside of the vault and scanned the room for any sign of the ANBU Guards that patrolled the building. It was less than a minute later that he felt Naruto creep up behind him.

"Got it," Naruto murmured under his breath as he patted the large scroll strapped to his back.

"Are you sure? Why is it so big? Wouldn't it be better to make it a small scroll?"

"Well, it's harder to hide a big scroll; so it makes the test harder," Naruto countered with a rare burst of logic.

"Weird. Come on, let's get out of here; I don't like sneaking about the Hokage's office in the dark."

"Have you seen any of the ANBU pass by yet?"

"No, we have another two minutes before their patrol passes by the office again; I timed them while we were setting up the traps."

"You and your stupid numbers."

"Yeah, well without my numbers you'd never have enough money for ramen."

"You don't have to rub it in."

"Yes, I do. If I didn't, you'd forget and then you still wouldn't have enough money for ramen."

"Jerk."

"Idiot."

The two of them burst into soft snickers two seconds later. They sobered up a minute later as they suddenly recalled that they were supposed to be in the middle of a test; not messing about with a prank. Feeling better now that their 'mission' was half over, Haruo nodded at Naruto as they both dropped down to their hands and knees and crawled out of the vault. Once they reached the nearest window, Haruo carefully lifted his head up to peer outside; it being far safer for him to scout their route since Naruto's bright yellow hair would stand out too much despite the fact that it had been streaked with mud in an effort to make it stand out less.

As soon as he saw the coast was clear, Haruo tapped Naruto on the head to let the older boy know it was safe to exit through the window. Naruto then scrambled up and out of the office with Haruo following on his heels. Once outside, Haruo slid the window shut and took fifteen seconds to rig the final trap before they both crept down the side of the tower using Kinobori no Waza (an advanced chakra control exercise that Kuma had taught them fourteen months ago). The moment their feet touched the ground, the two boys took to the shadows and hightailed it out of the Hokage's Compound.

Thirteen minutes later, they stumbled into the smaller of the two secret training grounds that had been set up years ago for his training lessons with Kuma. He would have preferred spending the night in the larger training ground (which had been turned into a rather wild and, in Haruo's opinion, magnificent garden over the years) but he refused to practice a new jutsu in the elaborate garden; he didn't want to take a chance that some or all of it might be destroyed during their training. Naruto immediately began laughing and dancing about the field in triumph now that they were safe from discovery.

Haruo snorted in amusement but let his friend have his moment; he knew the hardest part was yet to come. While Naruto danced about, Haruo grew several small torches in a large circle in the center of the training ground before lighting them with a low level katon jutsu that Karasu had taught them. Eventually, Naruto settled down as he unbuckled the scroll and dropped it on the ground. The two of them then carefully checked the scroll for traps (their lessons from Inu had given them a healthy respect for tricks like that) in the torchlight before they carefully opened the scroll and unrolled several feet of parchment.

Naruto then leaned down over the writing to read the title of the first jutsu out loud, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu… ah man… another clone technique? That sucks."

"The second one is called Bunshin Bakuha," Haruo read out while Naruto was busy sulking.

"What…? No way!"

"Yep; says here that you have to know how to make a solid clone first. They give the Kage Bunshin as an example."

"But I suck at clones…"

"No, you suck at genjutsu and the Bunshin no Jutsu is a genjutsu," Haruo corrected absently as he skimmed through several other techniques on the scroll before he stopped and stared at one particular jutsu in horror.

"What's wrong, Haruo?" Naruto asked in some concern when he glanced up and saw the look on Haruo's face.

Haruo's voice fairly shook as he read out loud from the scroll, "Edo Tensei: a technique that brings the dead back to life using a human sacrifice."

"What does sacrifice mean?"

"It means you have to kill someone to bring someone back."

"That's terrible."

"I don't want to learn that. I think you grabbed the wrong scroll, Naruto. Most of these jutsu sound terrible."

"The clones aren't though. Maybe the others are just fake techniques meant to scare us? Or maybe they're part of the test… like they're testing us to see if we know our limits or something. That sounds like something Iruka-sensei would test us on. You know, see if we can learn something our level while ignoring the cool stuff that would make us look super cool in front of the other kids."

"Maybe, but they still sound hard. There's a note on both of the clone techniques that says you have to at least have Jounin level reserves just to learn them. And if you use the second seal sequence when using the Kage Bunshin, you can create hundreds of clones instead of just one or two. There's also a warning about making too many and dispelling them in large groups because they're supposed to send their experiences back to the user and it could damage the brain with an overload of information. I wonder how that works."

"Do you have enough chakra to learn it?" Naruto asked with some concern as he ignored the rest of the warnings.

"Maybe, but I don't think I have enough to create hundreds. I already know how to create solid clones though."

"Yeah, but you can't use those ones in front of people because your Mokuton is supposed to be a secret."

"I know that. It would still be cool to make clones that could explode though."

"I bet a month's worth of trap supplies that I can learn how to make the Kage Bunshin before you can," Naruto challenged as he grinned up at Haruo through his mud streaked face.

"I bet you a case of shrimp ramen that I can get it in one try," Haruo countered as a determined glint entered his emerald eyes.

The two of them shook hands before they crowded together over the scroll so they could read through the instructions and memorize the seal sequence for creating a single clone. Naruto then immediately began trying to form a clone while Haruo instead simply practiced the hand seals without molding any chakra. After the first hour of practice, Haruo began meditating and regulating his chakra while he continued forming the hand seals; noting the differences in the way the new jutsu pulled on his chakra when compared to the way using the Moku Bunshin pulled on his chakra.

By the third hour, Naruto was looking as if he'd been in a street fight as he continued to form deformed clone after deformed clone (the blond refining the jutsu with each new clone he made) and Haruo had progressed to molding his chakra through the hand seals and canceling the jutsu before he actually created a clone. The reason why he wasn't just jumping straight into casting the jutsu was strictly due to the fact that he didn't have chakra to waste like Naruto did. He basically would only get one chance to win the bet since he'd be near exhausted after forming the clone regardless of whether or not he succeeded.

So instead of making repeated attempts, he practiced pulling up half of his chakra and distributing it evenly through his body so that the jutsu could form a perfect copy of him. In a way, his method wasn't really all that different than Naruto's; only Haruo's attempts were all gauged internally through meditation whereas Naruto's were given physical form so he could visibly judge his mistakes and his progress. Haruo's method of learning new jutsu had been born from his lessons with Kuma on controlling his Kekkei Genkai and mahou; though he'd had made no progress in the latter.

At the five hour mark (around two-thirty in the morning) both boys crowed out a triumphant, "Got it!" at the same exact instant as twin clouds of smoke erupted in the clearing. A light breeze dispersed the smoke a heartbeat later to reveal two perfect clones (one of each boy) and a scuffed up Naruto sitting a few feet away from a near exhausted Haruo. The two boys glanced up to catch each other's eye as they both cried, "Jinx!" in response to them completing the jutsu at the exact same time.

All four boys fell to laughing over the silliness before Naruto began crowing in triumph for the second time that night as he danced around the two clones while proclaiming, "I made a Bunshin. I made a Bunshin."

Haruo snorted in response to Naruto's antics before he closed his eyes and pressed his face into the grass. Creating just a single Kage Bunshin had taken more out of him then he'd thought it would. He could easily make three Moku Bunshin or six Mokuton: Kugutsu no Jutsu using the same amount of chakra.

"Are you going to be alright, Haruo?" Naruto asked as he dropped down beside Haruo once he'd finished celebrating his success several minutes later.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I don't think I'll be able to make another clone. Do you think it will count as a passing grade if I just keep the one I made around until we finish the test or do you think I will have to make another one once we meet up with Mizuki-sensei?"

"I don't know. Did you still want to learn the Bunshin Bakuha?"

"Yeah, who knows, we might both fail if we can't show we each learned a different technique. Are you going to learn the hand seals for the Tajuu Kage Bunshin?"

"Do you think I should? Do we even have enough time to learn another jutsu?"

"Yeah, you should. You have tons of chakra and having tons of clones could be great for setting up tons of traps in a short period of time. And we still have two hours and twenty-nine minutes before we have to meet Mizuki-sensei."

"Okay, I'll work on the Tajuu Kage Bunshin and you work on the Bunshin Bakuha. If I don't finish before you do, then you can teach it to me later, dattebayo."

"Okay," Haruo agreed as he pushed himself up and crawled over to the scroll so he could read through the instructions for the exploding clone technique a second time.

He and his clone would then spend an hour and a half practicing the technique in the same way he'd practiced the Kage Bunshin; using meditation and ending the jutsu without actually ever using it. He carefully alternated between running through the hand signs for the Kage Bunshin and those for his Moku Bunshin to feel the differences in how the jutsu twisted his chakra to form the 'exploding' portion of the technique. The only thing he and his clone didn't bother to do was attempt to make an actual clone rigged to explode since it would draw far too much attention to their hidden training grounds since the barrier wasn't designed to stop the vibrations from an explosion traveling through the ground.

It was still rather tiring work though.

At the end of that time, he rolled up the scroll and sat on the ground to watch Naruto practice with the shadow clones; the blond creating a hundred clones each time he used the jutsu while he tried to cut down the amount of time and hand seals it took to make them. Haruo knew that Naruto didn't really need the practice anymore but kept practicing anyway because of how pleased he was over the fact that he could finally make actual clones. Haruo only hoped that Naruto wasn't hurting himself with all of the experience he received from each large group of clones.

After another half an hour had passed, Haruo called out to Naruto to let him know they had to get moving if they wanted to meet up with Mizuki-sensei before their time was up. Naruto then secured the scroll to the harness on his back once more before they slipped out of their hidden training ground with Haruo's still active shadow clone and immediately found the village crawling with shinobi. The two boys exchanged a brief glance of surprise and worry over the active attempt to see them fail the make-up test before they took to the shadows to avoid getting caught.

All of the stealth lessons that Neko had taught them and the mental map of the village that Karasu had helped them make came in handy as they slipped through the wide net of searchers in order to reach the assigned meeting place with a good fifteen minutes to spare. Haruo high-fived Naruto as they dropped down beside the old shed that sat on one side of the small clearing they ended up in while his shadow clone wandered into the shed to snoop around. They hadn't even been there a full minute before an angry Iruka turned up and planted his hands on his hips as he stared down at the two of them; his uniform still bright orange and his skin now faded to a light green.

"Just what the hell were you thinking, Naruto? And why did you drag Haruo into this mess? I know the two of you know better than to go around stealing things!"

"Iruka-sensei…? What are you doing here? I thought Mizuki-sensei would be the one to come and tell us if we passed the make-up test."

"Make-up test? What are you talking about? There's no such thing as a make-up test!"

"You're just trying to fail Naruto on purpose again!" Haruo hollered as he jumped to his feet and shoved Iruka away from Naruto. "You're even meaner than the other teachers!"

"I'm not… that wasn't…" Iruka tried to protest.

"We did everything we were supposed to," Haruo continued as he shoved Iruka further away. "We snuck in and got the scroll and then we spent hours learning a jutsu before we snuck past all the searchers so we could get here in time to meet with Mizuki-sensei."

"Mizuki…?"

"I thought you understood the rules, Uzumaki," Mizuki's voice coldly stated as he suddenly appeared in a tree on the edge of the clearing. "I told you to tell no one about the test. You were supposed to do this test alone to prove that you could but you couldn't do it without your bratty little friend tagging along. You fail."

"What!? But we did everything just like you told us to! And Haruo isn't a brat!"

"What the hell is going on, Mizuki?" Iruka demanded as he frowned at the other Chuunin.

"Naruto didn't tell me about the test," Haruo lied without remorse. "I followed him; so he should pass! He learned a jutsu and he didn't get caught."

Mizuki just sneered down at them as he countered with, "Like it matters if he learned anything or not. Don't you get it? There was no test! The two of you just committed treason against the village and now that you've been caught, you will be tossed into prison for the rest of your pathetic lives; if you aren't just executed outright."

"No! You're lying!" Naruto protested in denial.

"Chigau! I lied about the test to trick you into stealing the Scroll of Seals. I knew the Hokage wouldn't see you as a threat and that it would be far easier for me to take the scroll from you after you'd snuck passed the security measures put in place to protect the scroll. Now, give me the scroll and I won't kill your bratty little friend."

"Don't do it, Naruto!" Iruka ordered as he grabbed hold of Haruo and shoved the nine year old behind him. "I didn't want to believe it but Mizuki is a traitor; he's the reason why you failed all of your tests. It wasn't until Haruo knocked sense into me that I realized what was happening. Whatever you do, don't let him have that scroll!"

"That's fine with me, I'll just pry it from his cold, dead hands," Mizuki cackled as he launched two flurries of kunai in rapid succession; one at Iruka and the other at Naruto.

Haruo sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes flared wide with fear. He then pressed his lips together in anger before he used Kawarimi no Jutsu twice in rapid succession to trade places with Naruto and then trade places with the shadow clone that had been exploring the shed. He heard Naruto let out an angry cry when the Kage Bunshin got hit with half a dozen kunai that cut straight through the clone and drilled through the thin wooden walls of the shed at the same time as Iruka took several kunai to the leg when he couldn't block them all.

Haruo's clone dispelled just seconds later and the nine year old let out a low groan as he was hit with the clone's memories (including the memory of its 'death') and the exhaustion it had accumulated as it trained alongside of him. He thought he heard Naruto frantically call his name but he was too disoriented to think about responding right away and the added fatigue he received from the clone made it hard for him to hurry back to his friend's side. By the time he drudged up enough energy to make his way outside, he stumbled out just in time to hear Mizuki reveal the secret about why so many people hated Naruto.

"…because you are the Kyuubi!"

Haruo scowled at the traitor as he saw how badly Naruto had taken the Chuunin's words; the blond falling backwards onto his butt in shock. He knew that Naruto was not a demon. A demon would not put up with a whiney baby tagging along after it. A demon would not protect said whiney baby from bullies by letting said bullies beat the tar out of it. And a demon would not prank the snot out of people that annoyed it; a demon would destroy the entire village in a murderous rampage if it was annoyed.

"Now do everyone a favor and die, demon scum!" Mizuki roared as he removed one of the giant shuriken that he was carrying on his back and threw it at Naruto's frozen form.

Haruo let out an angry growl as he used Kawarimi a third time to switch places with Naruto a second time. At the same time, Iruka tried to throw himself protectively in front of the now displaced Haruo; only to fall short when his injured leg buckled on him the moment he put weight on it. Time slowed down as the giant shuriken bore down on Haruo the moment he'd switched places with Naruto and the nine year old had just enough time to twist himself around to meet Naruto's horrified gaze before the shuriken struck him and pinned him to the ground.

Haruo screamed in pain as he felt two of the four blades slice through skin and bones; one blade cutting deeply into his collar bone, the other slicing through his ribs on right side beneath his armpit, and the sides of the two blades biting at his shoulder blade from both sides. He was lucky that the giant shuriken hadn't cut off his arm due to the way it landed. The fact that he'd twisted at the last minute had also saved him from getting hit in the heart. Ignoring the pain and the tears that poured from his eyes, Haruo desperately tried to free his arm from the shuriken so he could protect Naruto from the next attack but the way he was pinned to the ground prevented him from reaching the giant throwing star.

"Haruo!" Naruto screamed in panic as he dashed up to the trapped nine year old. "Oh kami! You're bleeding all over the place. Chikushou! We have to stop the bleeding!" The blond then tugged at the large shuriken and tried to pull it free only to immediately let go of the thing when Haruo whimpered in pain as the movement of the weapon only aggravated the injury. "Chikushou. Chikushou! CHIKUSHOU! Why did you do that!?"

"You're not… allowed… to leave me… alone," Haruo rasped between clenched teeth as he tried not to pass out from the agonizing pain in his arm on top of his exhaustion.

"Ah, does the demon's annoying little toy have a boo-boo?" Mizuki taunted cruelly as he dropped down to the ground and began walking towards the two children.

"Leave them alone, Mizuki!" Iruka shouted as he slowly got back to his feet and moved to shield them with his body.

"Who's going to make me? You? Don't make me laugh, Iruka. You're too weak."

"I will stop you; you've done enough damage. Surrender."

"Make me."

Haruo and Naruto could only stare in horrified silence as an injured Iruka clashed with Mizuki. It was a decidedly short fight that ended with Iruka being thrown into a tree and pinned in place with another half a dozen kunai. Mizuki then turned his attention back to the two boys and pulled out another kunai.

"Now, give me the scroll, demon, and I won't make you watch me kill your little friend."

Naruto snarled at the Chuunin as he took up a protective stance in front of Haruo and created a hundred clones. Mizuki laughed as he rushed forward, dispelled all of the clones with swipes of his kunai, and kicked Naruto across the clearing with a boot to the chest. He then roughly yanked the giant shuriken out of the ground and tossed it at Naruto a second time (the blond just barely ducking out of its path before he was hit) as he pulled Haruo up off the ground into a one-armed hold before laying the kunai against Haruo's throat.

Pain flared sharply in Haruo's injured shoulder and side as Mizuki's arm pressed down on his injured side and he couldn't help but let out a pained cry. At the same time, his blood began flowing more freely from the wounds now that the large shuriken was no longer restricting the blood flow.

Naruto slowly climbed back to his feet with his chin pressed to his chest, painting his face in shadows, before he coldly uttered, "Put Haruo down, now."

"No, I don't think I will. I'm going to make you watch as I slit his throat right here, right now. And then I'm going to kill you."

"I won't let you touch my friend, you ugly jerk!" Haruo growled angrily as he lifted his left leg up before he swung it backwards as hard as he could and nailed Mizuki in the crotch with his heel.

Mizuki grunted and doubled over in pain at the unexpected blow to his family jewels. In his pain, the hand holding the kunai jerked backwards when Mizuki's movement shoved the nine year old forward; resulting in the sharp blade slicing through the thin fabric of the dark turtleneck he was wearing before cutting into the tender skin of Haruo's throat. Haruo's magic exploded out of him at the same time and set Mizuki on fire before he was roughly thrown to the side by the now panicking Chuunin. Haruo let out another cry as he hit the ground hard and rolled for several feet before he came to a stop.

"Haruo!" Naruto cried fearfully as he raced across the ground, crashed down onto his knees beside the younger boy, and ignored the blood coating Haruo's clothes as rolled Haruo onto his back. "Don't you dare die on me, Haruo!"

"Naruto, take Haruo and get out of here; take him to the hospital," Iruka interjected urgently as he finally freed himself from the weapons that had pinned him to the tree and shakily climbed to his feet.

"He's already as good as dead," Mizuki taunted with a cold laugh once he'd managed to put out the flames; his courage returning now that he was no longer on fire. "Even if I didn't cut his throat deeply enough to kill him instantly, he'll still bleed out from his other injuries before you can find a medic to heal him. It serves the little bastard right for getting in the way."

Naruto pushed himself back up onto his feet and curled his bloody hands into fists as he growled out a low, "I'm going to make it so you can't ever lay a hand on my friend again, Mizuki-teme."

Haruo weakly rolled over on to his side in an attempt to stop Naruto out of fear that Mizuki would hurt the older boy but missed because his limbs felt far too heavy. All he could do was helplessly watch as Naruto was engulfed in a dark aura made up entirely of killing intent. Haruo's breath caught in his throat while both Iruka and Mizuki froze in place as their eyes filled with terror (Mizuki's) and concern (Iruka's and Haruo's) due to the potent rage laced chakra that suffused the entire clearing.

Mizuki's actions had awoken something frightening in Naruto.

And it wasn't the Kyuubi.

Unknown to the four individuals in the clearing, Haruo's presence, or more specifically the aura of wild magic that clung to him, suppressed the Kyuubi completely due to how closely linked his magic was to nature. So long as Haruo was within ten yards of Naruto (a distance that would grow as Haruo did), his magic would ensure that the slumbering entity inside of Naruto would remain undisturbed. And with the Kyuubi's consciousness locked deep with in Morpheus's arms and the bulk of the Kyuubi's chakra inaccessible due to the Containment Seal, there was nothing stopping Naruto from tapping into his Uzumaki heritage.

The Kyuubi might inspire fear and hate but even the dread inspired by the demon fox paled in comparison to the sheer terror that was incited by an angry Uzumaki. There was a reason, after all, why three of the five Great Shinobi Villages had banded together to destroy Uzushiogakure in order to wipe the Uzumaki clan off of the face of the earth. And it wasn't because they were formidable fuuinjutsu experts. No, the true reason why the Uzumaki had been feared was due to their ability to physically manifest their chakra into deadly chains (or other weapons) that acted as an extension of their will and because of the berserker rampages they went on when angered.

A heartbeat after being surrounded by the dark aura, the sound of rattling chains filled the clearing as a hundred chains made from pure chakra and tipped with conical spearheads burst forth from Naruto's back. Faster than the eye could follow, the sentient chains launched themselves at Mizuki. Thirty-five of the chains dug down into the ground before rising up from beneath Mizuki's feet to tightly wrap around the man's legs while the tips pierced his thighs. Another sixty-four chains split into two groups that swung wide to shift behind a pair of trees on opposite sides of the clearing before they darted inwards to capture Mizuki's arms; the tips digging deeply into his biceps and shoulders.

Once they had captured their target, all of the chains retracted in order to hold Mizuki in place as the final chain rose up from behind Naruto's head like a deadly cobra. Mizuki immediately began pleading for mercy the moment he realized there was no way for him to escape from the chains but his words fell on deaf ears. The final chain pierced Mizuki through the heart and killed him instantly at the same time as the first ray of sunlight crested the horizon. The glowing chains shattered just seconds later as Naruto dropped heavily onto his knees.

"Na…ru…to," Haruo croaked through his aching throat as he once again weakly reached for the blond.

Three seconds later, Naruto was clutching Haruo to his chest as he bawled his eyes out. Haruo let out a weary sigh as the tension bled from his body now that Naruto was safe. Iruka limped and stumbled to their side at that point and pulled them both into a hug before he pulled a first aide kit out of his utility pouch and quickly set about patching up Haruo as soon as he could coax Naruto into letting the younger boy go. As he worked, Iruka addressed them both in a low voice.

"I'm still very disappointed that the two of you thought it was a good idea to steal _any _thing from the Hokage's office for _any_ reason but I'm also so very proud of you both for the way you handled things once Mizuki showed his true colors. I also owe you an apology, Naruto; if I had paid closer attention to what was happening, I would have caught onto the fact that someone was sabotaging your work at the Academy. I also should not have failed you during the Ninjutsu Test yesterday afternoon. And, Haruo, I am so, so sorry that I wasn't fast enough or strong enough to protect you."

Iruka finished trussing up Haruo's arm at that point and sat up before he reached into his pocket to grab the extra hitai-ate he'd taken from the Academy supplies. When he discovered it missing (the pocket holding the headband had been torn open and the hitai-ate dropped during his earlier fight), he immediately took off his own hitai-ate as a substitute.

As he tied the headband around Naruto's forehead as he stated, "After reviewing your written test from this morning and noting that the questions you answered were answered correctly even if they weren't the questions you were supposed to answer and after seeing you easily form a large number of solid clones, I have determined that you have passed the Graduation Exam. Congratulations, Naruto-kun."

"Yatta!" Naruto cried happily as he reached up to run his fingers over the worn and slightly dented metal plate of the hitai-ate. His excitement then fled as quickly as it had formed as he pulled the headband from his head and held it back out to Iruka. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei but I can't accept this. I can't wear a hitai-ate unless Haruo is wearing one too. I promised him I wouldn't leave him again and I know he gave up his hitai-ate yesterday."

"Well, it's a good thing that I still have him registered as passing and that I brought this with me then," Iruka countered as he retrieved Haruo's headband from his other pocket (the corner still very much dented where it had struck Iruka's hitai-ate) and tied it around Haruo's forehead. He then sternly shook his finger at the nine year old as he stated, "You should be more careful with your hitai-ate or you might lose it and then you'd be in big trouble, mister."

Haruo let out a weak giggle while Naruto beamed happily as he quickly put his second-hand hitai-ate back on. Iruka chuckled and ruffled their hair before he scooped Haruo up into his arms and gingerly climbed to his feet. He'd just turned to leave the clearing when two teams of ANBU dropped down into the clearing. Haruo quickly recognized four of the eight masked shinobi and he shrank in on himself as the cat masked Kuma walked up to stare down at him through his mask. He couldn't help but cringe the moment he saw that his long time teacher was covered in sticky sap and glitter from one of their traps.

"The Hokage has summoned the three of you to his office," Inu stated through his now confetti coated dog mask while the four unfamiliar (and paint splattered) masked shinobi collected Mizuki's body and the weapons scattered about the clearing and Neko confiscated the Scroll of Seals from Naruto.

"Haruo is injured," Naruto protested as he latched onto Inu's ruined uniform.

"Tokage has already been summoned to tend to his wounds," Kuma stated as he reached out to take Haruo from Iruka.

"Let's go," Inu ordered as Taka moved to support the lightly injured Iruka while he grabbed hold of Naruto's shoulder.

It only took three minutes for the four ANBU members to get them to the Hokage's office where they found the Sandaime Hokage, Jiraiya the Gama Sennin, Tokage, and Inoichi waiting for them. Haruo barely noticed any of them as he faded in and out of consciousness due to how much blood he'd lost and how tired he was. He did, on the other hand, notice that Kuma continued to hold him while Tokage removed the bandages that Iruka had affixed to Haruo's injuries before he healed his throat (which had been cut deep enough that it would leave a faint scar but not deep enough to actually kill him) and tended to the gashes on his collarbone, back, and side.

"_What am I going to do with you, Haruo?_" Kuma asked in English as Tokage finished healing what he could of Haruo's injuries before smearing them with antibiotic paste and applying fresh bandages.

"_I couldn't let him hurt Naruto,_" Haruo stubbornly insisted as he turned his head to stare at Naruto as the Hokage lightly scolded the blond for breaking into the Hokage's Vault.

"_I wasn't implying that you shouldn't have protected him. I'm saying that you should have been smarter about it so that you didn't end up getting hurt. You could have died tonight. Why didn't you make another clone or puppet to swap yourself out with or just switch with a log?_"

"_I couldn't. I was too tired and here wasn't enough time to gather my chakra enough to swap with a log. I also didn't have enough chakra left to make a clone. And you told me not to use my bloodline limit in front of anyone._"

"_What in the world were you doing to exhaust yourself?_"

"_Ano… learning how to make shadow clones,_" Haruo weakly admitted as he cringed in anticipation of getting yelled at.

"Of all the fool damn stunts!" Kuma loudly cursed as he unconsciously switched back to Japanese; his outburst drawing the attention of the rest of those in the office. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that damn jutsu is? You could have killed yourself messing around with Kage Bunshin! What the hell were you thinking? You already know how to make solid clones!"

"Hey! Don't yell at Haruo! We thought we had to learn a jutsu from the scroll as part of the test and the Kage Bunshin was the easiest one we found, dattebayo," Naruto snapped as he spun around to glare at the masked shinobi.

"Urusai, Whiskers; as Haruo's father, it is well within my rights to scold him as I see fit when he does something stupid that puts his life at risk!"

"Father…?" Haruo parroted in a wavering voice.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Bunshin Bakuha – [Shadow] Clone Explosion (I've implied it could be used with any solid clone and I am not sure if that is canon or not)  
Chikushou – damn/damn it  
Edo Tensei – Summing: Impure World Reincarnation  
Kage Bunshin – Shadow Clone  
Kinobori no Waza – Tree climbing  
Moku Bunshin no Jutsu – Wood Clone  
Mokuton: Kugutsu no Jutsu – Wood Dummy/Puppet Technique (Kugutsu meaning puppet/dummy) an author created derivative of the Moku Bunshin based upon the wooden dummy Yamato uses for the Kawarimi no Jutsu  
Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Multiple Shadow Clone Technique

**Notes:**

We've now seen a couple more deviations from Naruto Canon (not counting Haruo/Harry's presence and friendship with Naruto) in that Mizuki is most definitely dead (which means the filler arc where he escapes from prison won't happen in this universe) and Naruto has his mother's chains. I've also twisted history a bit to make the Uzumaki feared for something other than their fuuinjutsu skills. Further explanations on why Harry's magic is able to prevent the Kyuubi from waking up and the Containment Seal from loosening will be provided within the story at some point.

And for those of you who are dissatisfied that Haruo/Harry didn't go BAMF on Mizuki please keep in mind that Harry is only nine, has no control over his magic, and he had exhausted himself. Our little magical Mokuton user will grow into his power once he grows up but I am going to try and have his power ups follow a gradual and more realistic/reasonable growth progression instead of having him go from child to child-god in the span of a single paragraph or chapter. The same will apply to Naruto as well.

If that is going to bug you, then there's not much I can do for you since I'm not going to rewrite any of my stories just because one or more people are unhappy with my decisions on how the story and the characters progress.

For the rest of you, I hope you enjoyed the changes I made to a scene that's been beaten out, rehashed, and remade thousands of times in FanFiction. I tried to remain true to the basic canon plot of that scene while making appropriate changes to include Haruo without him totally taking over Naruto or Iruka's rolls like I've seen happen in many fics.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	8. A Slip of the Tongue

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Eight: A Slip of the Tongue

_December 16, 1989, 06:58 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

As soon as the words left his mouth, Tenzou knew he'd just made a stupid mistake. In his defense, he was still rather shaken up over how close he'd come to losing his son less than an hour earlier. The fact that he had not been allowed to interfere as the confrontation unfolded had not helped; since he'd been unable to step in to protect his son while he and the others present in the office watched the events unfolding through the use of the Hokage's Toomegane no Jutsu. That still didn't excuse the blunder he'd just made in blurting out his relationship to Haruo in the open the way he just had.

"Father…?" Haruo repeated a second time as he stared up at Tenzou with wide emerald eyes.

Tenzou grimaced beneath his mask before he reluctantly nodded a confirmation. This was so not the way he would have wanted his son to learn the truth. In fact, this was probably the worst possible moment for him to learn the truth. It was never a good idea to spring life altering secrets on anyone (let alone a child) right on the heels of a traumatic event. The twenty-six year old braced himself for his son to lash out at him with his magic in anger as he watched a hundred different emotions play across his son's face.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you take me home? Didn't you want me? Wasn't I good enough for you to love?"

Tenzou would have preferred it if his son had lashed out at him with his magic rather than the cutting questions he had asked in a broken voice; it would have been far less painful than his son thinking he'd abandoned him on purpose.

"I do love you, Haruo," Tenzou quietly replied as he removed his mask for the first time in front of his son; ignoring the fact that there were others still present in the room (since most of them were already fully aware of who he was under the mask). "And I did want you. In fact, I still want you. As for why I didn't tell or let you live with me; it wasn't safe. It still isn't safe. There are people out there that would not hesitate to kidnap you or kill you in order to hurt me if they knew that you were my son. And the last thing I wanted was for you to be hurt."

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Haruo asked as he intently studied Tenzou's face; his vibrant green eyes zipping back and forth rapidly.

"Yes, but not until you were much older and I knew you could protect yourself. I never meant for you to learn the truth like this. You scared me tonight though. I came far too close to losing you tonight."

"If you're my father, then who was _Daddy Prongs_?"

"He was your stepfather; he married your mother before you were born and then he adopted you."

"Why didn't you marry _Mummy_?"

"I only met your mother once and I didn't know she was pregnant with you when I left."

"Are you going to take Haruo away from me now, Koneko-chan?" Naruto demanded as he scowled at Tenzou.

"No, Whiskers; I'm not going to steal Haruo away from you. It still isn't safe for anyone to know that he's my son. I'm also not fond enough of sap to even think about separating the two of you."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Haruo murmured before he sucker punched Tenzou in the nose without warning. "That's for being mean and snapping at Naruto just now."

It was a good thing his son was still weak and exhausted or that punch might have broken his nose or given him a bloody nose. It still smarted and made his eyes water though. And he was ninety-nine point nine percent certain that his three teammates present were laughing at him from behind their masks.

"Did you have any more questions for me?" Tenzou asked once he was certain his voice wouldn't betray the minor pain he still felt radiating from his tender nose.

"Are you going to go back to yelling at me?" Haruo inquired as he scrunched up his nose and eyed him worriedly.

"I ought to; it was foolish of you to mess around with a jutsu that's far above your level."

"It was not too hard of a jutsu for me to learn; I got it in one try after I practiced feeling it out like you taught me to. And I didn't even try to make more than one."

"You could have killed yourself making 'just one' clone; the whole reason why that jutsu is not openly taught to anyone below Jounin level is because far too many people have died trying to make 'just one' clone. You're only nine years old, Haruo; your coils are still growing and you could have done yourself serious damage mucking about like you did."

"Nine…?" Umino blurted out in shock. "What do you mean he's nine!? According to his Academy file, he just turned eleven this past summer!"

"That makes strike two," Inu drawled in obvious amusement.

"Kuso," Tenzou cursed as he shifted Haruo into one arm so he could palm his face.

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about my age in front of anyone," Haruo innocently blurted out with a trace of confusion. "Just like we're not supposed to talk about my Mo…"

"Don't say it," Tenzou instructed as he transferred his hand from his face to Haruo's mouth to keep him from finishing that sentence.

"Like father, like son," Jiraiya quipped around a chuckle.

"As amusing as it is to watch the drama unfolding here in my office; the children have had a rough night and they will need the rest of the weekend to rest if they have any hopes of being ready for the team distributions on Monday," the Hokage dryly pointed out before anyone else could make a comment.

"Does that mean we aren't in trouble?" Haruo wondered as he twisted in Tenzou's grasp in order to meet the Hokage's gaze.

"No, you're both still in trouble but I think you've both been punished enough and I can hardly hold the two of you accountable for Mizuki's betrayal. In fact, your stunt last night revealed more than a few holes in the village's security as you successfully infiltrated and trapped the Hokage's Tower, stole a valuable scroll full of dangerous kinjutsu, and avoided detection for close to nine hours. Knowing about those holes will allow us to close them so that an enemy can't use them in the future. On top of that, you flushed out a traitor in our ranks; though I would have preferred it if you had left him alive so that we could have questioned him."

"I killed Mizuki," Naruto blurted out in horror as his face turned green right before he dropped down onto his knees and vomited on floor. "I really am a monster."

Haruo wriggled down out of Tenzou's arms before he staggered over to Naruto, wrapped his uninjured arm around the distraught blond, and sternly countered, "No, you're not. Mizuki-teme was the monster. He told you a bunch of lies and he tried to hurt you. I don't care if you are the Kyuubi reborn. You're my friend and I need you. So you can't run away and leave me alone. You promised me you wouldn't leave me alone again."

"Naruto is not the Kyuubi reborn; the Kyuubi was sealed inside of Naruto on the day he was born," Jiraiya solemnly corrected before Naruto could respond to Haruo's impassioned declaration. "Naruto is a hero though; he has protected the entire village from the Kyuubi ever since the Yondaime sealed the fox inside of him when he was a baby."

"I always knew my best friend was awesome," Haruo wearily murmured before he passed out half slumped over the twelve year old; the short walk across the room sapping the last of his strength.

"Haruo!" Naruto cried frantically as he twisted around and clutched the unconscious boy to him.

"Relax, Naruto-kun; Haruo will be fine once he gets a bit of rest. He lost a lot of blood tonight and he is suffering from a moderate case of chakra exhaustion," Tokage assured the newly minted Genin as Tenzou stepped forward to collect his son once more.

"He only got hurt because of me," Naruto muttered darkly.

"It's not your fault," Inu stated firmly as he pulled the blond off the floor. "The only ones that are to blame for Haruo's injuries are Mizuki (because he was the one that attacked the two of you) and Haruo (because he chose to put himself in harm's way in order to protect you). If you don't want him to get hurt again trying to protect you, then you need to learn how to stay focused when you are confronted by an enemy or learn shocking information so that you don't leave yourself vulnerable to an attack that he will feel the need to protect you from."

Naruto's face scrunched up in defiance for a brief moment before he turned his back on Inu and focused on Jiraiya instead as he demanded, "Do I really have a big, ugly fox locked up in my guts? Is that what caused those weird chains to form when I got angry at Mizuki-teme after he nearly killed Haruo?"

"I suppose that's one way of putting it," Jiraiya snorted as he shook his head in response to Naruto's crude summary of how the Containment Seal worked. "And yes, the Kyuubi is really sealed inside of you. Consider yourself a storage scroll holding a very dangerous kunai. So long as you don't take it out and play with it before you are taught how to use it properly, no one will get hurt. As for the chains…? No, those had nothing to do with the Kyuubi and everything to do with your bloodline."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sensei…?" Jiraiya asked leadingly as he turned towards the Hokage instead of answering Naruto's question.

"So long as you don't mention any names, I will not prevent you from disclosing that half of his heritage."

"Huh…? What are you talking about jijii?" Naruto asked as he dropped back down onto the floor, crossed his arms, and squinted at the Hokage in confusion.

"It means that I now have permission to tell you a little bit about your mother's clan and the Kekkei Genkai that you inherited from your mother."

"I have a clan…? Does that mean I have family somewhere? And I have a Kekkei Genkai like Haruo?"

"Yes, you were born to a clan. No, you don't have any family out there that we know of; the majority of your mother's Clan was wiped out during the Second Great Shinobi War. Aside from your mother, we do not know if there were any other survivors. And yes, you have a Kekkei Genkai like Haruo but yours is not an elemental Kekkei Genkai. I don't know the technical name of your Kekkei Genkai, your mother refused to tell me for some reason…"

"Meaning she refused to allow you to pervert her ability by casting her as the lead role in your first Icha-Icha book," Neko quipped just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"…but it involved chakra manifestation and chakra manipulation in its purest form," Jiraiya continued without missing a beat; the Sennin easily ignoring Neko's remark. "Basically, it means that you are able to form chains or other weapons out of pure chakra and manipulate them as easily as a puppeteer manipulates his puppets. Now that you unlocked the ability, it will take a lot of hard work for you to be able to manifest your chakra chains outside of a blind rage. You'll have to work on controlling your emotions as well; which means lots of meditation."

"That sucks… I hate meditation."

"Well, you don't have to learn how to consciously form or control your chakra chains if you don't want to. Of course, if you don't learn how control them, then you might accidentally hurt someone close to you if you were angry enough," Inu pointed out as he reached down and turned Naruto's head so that he was looking at Tenzou and Haruo.

Tenzou mentally snorted over the heavy handed manipulation of Naruto's emotions and friendship with Haruo. He didn't speak up in protest against it though; he knew there was a very real possibility that Naruto could hurt those close to him in the future if they accidentally got in his way while he was in a blind rage. The same thing applied to Haruo's mahou; which is why Tenzou had constantly worked with his son on controlling his emotions over the past six years. It would be years yet before the nine year old could consistently maintain control of his emotions though; he hadn't missed the fact that Umino's uniform was orange instead of dark blue or the fact that the Chuunin's skin carried a faint lime green tinge.

"It's something that you will need to consider at the very least," the Sandaime stated rather pointedly as he gave the pouting blond a significant look. "In the mean time, did you have any other questions?"

"Why won't you tell me who my parents were?"

"It's still far too dangerous for that information to be revealed to anyone," the Hokage gently, and regretfully, answered as he calmly met Naruto's gaze. "Both of your parents had many, many powerful enemies and some of those enemies are still alive and still nursing their grudges against your parents. Even revealing the fact that you are a descendant of a clan was a huge risk; since your clan was slaughtered because too many people feared their abilities. I trust I don't have to tell you how dangerous it would be for you to go around blurting out the truth about your bloodline, ne?"

"I guess… I can tell Haruo though, right? We never keep any secrets from each other."

"So long as you do not speak of your heritage to anyone else or in a place where someone can overhear you, I will not forbid you from telling your friend. However, I will be most displeased if I find out you weren't careful. The same thing applies to the information regarding the Kyuubi. Understand?"

"Hai, jijii."

"Good. Was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"No."

"Then let me ask you a question; did you or Haruo-kun learn or attempt to learn any other jutsu from the Scroll of Seals aside from the Kage Bunshin?"

"I learned the Tajuu Kage Bunshin and Haruo was trying to learn the Bunshin Bakuha but I don't know if he finished it before we ran out of time or not. He never made anything explode, dattebayo. We looked at a couple of other jutsu from the scroll but there was one jutsu that really freaked Haruo out and we stopped reading through it after that. Something about bringing the dead back by killing another person I think."

"Did either of you attempt to learn the hand seals for that jutsu?" the Hokage demanded in a commanding tone.

"Nah, it was too creepy. Haruo felt really squeamish about it too. He didn't really like many of the jutsu we read about. He thought they were all too terrible or too hard."

"Exploding clones," Tenzou grumbled under his breath as he replaced his mask. "I'm going to end up gray or bald by the time I'm thirty if they keep this up."

"Welcome to the joys of parenthood," Jiraiya barked with a laugh. "I may love the ladies but I always make damn sure I never leave any little surprises behind."

"I was careful, damn it; I took precautions."

"And yet you obviously weren't careful enough or you wouldn't be holding a little mini-you right now."

"Stop goading him, Jiraiya," the Hokage ordered half-heartedly. "Inoichi, can you scan Haruo-kun's memories now or will you need to wait until he wakes up?"

"I can view them now," Inoichi replied from where he'd been unobtrusively leaning against the wall just listening to the unfolding drama the entire time.

"I will leave you to it then. Naruto, I need you to promise me something."

"Nani…?"

"I want you to promise me that you will not teach any of the jutsu that you learned tonight to anyone else without my explicit permission."

"Why?"

"Because the chakra requirements needed to form them could easily kill a person if their reserves were far too small to handle them."

"Oh, okay. I promise."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Can someone please explain why Haruo-kun's Academy file was falsified?" Umino quietly requested once the Hokage had finished dealing with Naruto. "And will I be removed from my position at the Academy for allowing him to take and pass the Graduation Exam a full year early?"

"From the day my son met and befriended Uzumaki-kun, the two of them were inseparable," Tenzou began after the Hokage silently gave him permission to answer the first question. "Haruo-kun refused to be left behind or to leave his friend behind for any reason. My son has two Kekkei Genkai and his dominant ability is linked directly to his emotions; meaning that he unconsciously lashes out with that ability when he is angry, scared, or in pain. You are still sporting the results of an encounter with that particular ability."

"In order to prevent word of his Kekkei Genkai from spreading to the wrong ears, Haruo's age was altered on paper and he was allowed to enter the Academy two years early so that he would not attempt to sneak into class while chasing after Uzumaki-kun. Since he would have inevitably grown distressed each time he was kicked out and triggered his Kekkei Genkai as a result. The compromise for allowing Haruo to enter the Academy early was that the two boys had not been allowed to graduate until after Uzumaki reached his twelfth birthday."

"What about their Genin team? There are now an uneven number of students that graduated…"

"They will, of course, be placed on the same team and since Haruo-kun is technically underage, they will be assigned an additional two teammates to round out their team instead of just one," the Hokage answered. "The Jounin Instructor that has been slated to take their four-man squad is also more than capable of protecting all of his future charges and keeping them out of any serious trouble. And Haruo's early graduation will not in any way reflect negatively upon you or your career as an Academy Instructor unless you were to leak that information to public at large."

"You have my word that I will not speak of anything that I learned tonight in regards to Haruo or Naruto," Umino hastily promised as he immediately picked up on the subtle threat.

"Then I don't anticipate there being any problems."

Another hour would pass as Naruto and Umino gave their reports on what had occurred that evening while Inoichi first viewed Haruo's memory and then Umino's memories. He would have viewed Naruto's too but it was unwise to go traipsing about inside the mind of a Jinchuuriki lest the demon inside of them lashed out in retaliation for the intrusion. Once the debriefing was over, Haruo and Naruto were escorted home by Inu and Tenzou (Haruo was still unconscious and Tenzou was not yet ready to let him go). As soon as Naruto let them inside (the blond filching the key from Haruo's pocket), Tenzou changed Haruo into his pajamas and tucked him into bed before he joined Inu in the living room.

Naruto gave the two men funny looks when they showed no signs of leaving before he shrugged it off and joined Haruo in bed. The blond was lights out seconds later; the hyperactive kid exhausted after the long night. Tenzou would check on the two boys ten minutes later to ensure that they were both sound asleep and that their room was secured. He then returned to the living room and removed his mask as he dropped down on the couch beside his captain and friend. Inu took off his mask a heartbeat later to reveal the half-covered visage of Hatake Kakashi.

"Well, at least we know they learned something from all of those extra little lessons and tips we gave them through the years," Kakashi commented as he smirked at Tenzou; the cloth mask on his face shifting with the change in expression.

"Screw you, Hatake," Tenzou automatically retorted without any heat as he ran a hand through his sticky hair and knocked the steel armor that framed his face askew when his fingers caught on the wide elastic band that held the plate in place.

"Is that any way to talk to your teichou?"

"No, but you aren't my teichou any longer."

"My resignation won't be official until midnight tomorrow night."

"Do I look like I care?"

"No, not really. What are you going to do now that he knows?"

"Nothing; his knowing who I am to him doesn't change anything."

"Chigau; it changes everything. You know that he's going to look at you differently now that he knows. I couldn't say if he'll treat you any differently at first but over time, once it really sinks in, he'll either want to get closer to you or he'll try to push you away. You need to be prepared for either scenario."

"There's still no reason for me to change how I treat him. I've always seen him as my son and I will continue to treat him the same way I've treated him since the day I collected him from his former guardians. What about you? Are you prepared to show your face to the boys come Monday morning when you officially take up the position of Jounin sensei to their Genin team?"

"If they pass the Bell Test, yes."

"That depends on who the Hokage assigned as their teammates."

"Uchiha Sasuke will be one of the two children assigned to their team. Their final teammate is less certain. I do know that I won't end up with any of the other clan children in their class; Kurenai requested the Hyuuga girl, the Inuzuka boy, and the Aburame boy in order to create a specialized tracking and scouting team and Asuma is taking the next generation of Ino-Shika-Chou."

"You do know that neither one of the boys can stand the Uchiha kid, ne?"

"Aa, I know. The problem is that there's really no one else that can teach him how to use the Sharingan once he awakens his doujutsu or how to train his body to compensate for the strain an active Sharingan will place on it though."

"That's all fine and dandy but what are you going to do about his obsession with power and revenge?"

"Train it out of him in any way I can. In truth, I'm worried more about teaching him not to antagonize Haruo by verbally attacking Naruto. I hadn't thought that his mahou could turn vicious until we saw him set Mizuki on fire earlier."

"I have a theory about that," Tenzou replied as he shuddered over his own memory of that particular moment. "Each time his mahou lashed out at the people he was angry at or frightened of in the past, I don't think he ever truly saw them as threats. Mizuki repeatedly threatened to kill both boys last night and he attacked them with the intent to kill; forcing Haruo to see him as a very real threat. The teme also injured Haruo more than once. It therefore stands to reason that his mahou would lash out with near lethal force the moment that the traitor got his hands on my son."

"That or it reacted with lethal intent the moment the knife Mizuki was holding cut into his throat."

"There is that," Tenzou agreed with a grimace over the reminder of how close his son came to dying. "You're going to have to teach him the proper way to handle hostage situations and how best to avoid getting injured when attempting to remove himself from an enemy's hands."

"Far better if he learns how to avoid getting caught up by an enemy in the first place."

"That won't help him if his team faces a superior opponent."

"True."

"You do know that the boys will string you up by your balls if you fail them because their other two teammates refused to work with them during the Bell Test, ne?" Tenzou asked several minutes later. "They'll also make you pay and pay dearly if you even hint that they might be separated if one of them doesn't manage to capture a bell."

Kakashi froze and his visible eye opened wide in response to Tenzou's question; he apparently had not considered the consequences of potentially failing the two friends or given any thought to how they would take any ploy (real or fabricated) to split them apart. The older shinobi then began to sweat lightly as he truly considered just how far the two boys would go in their attempts to get revenge on the one that responsible for any distress they endured while under the belief that they would be separated.

"I can't give them the Bell Test," Kakashi grudgingly declared in defeat not two minutes later. "After everything that happened last night, they won't be in a very forgiving mood any time soon. Even if the four of them did manage to pass the test, Naruto and Haruo would still never forgive me for the mental anguish I inspired by playing on their fears and I can't afford to fight them every step of the way once we start taking missions outside of the village. Chikushou."

"There are a number of people that would be very upset if you failed the Uchiha as well. And don't forget, you're going to have to wait until Tokage clears Haruo for active training before you put him through his paces."

"I guess that means I'm going to have to spend the rest of the weekend putting together a new test."

"Or you could just run them through an obstacle course to get a feel for their current skill levels and then train them into the ground in order to force them to bond over their shared pain. For Haruo, you could just test him on those skills that won't aggravate his injuries and then have him run the exact same course once he has recovered."

Kakashi laughed at that suggestion before he commented, "The obstacle course isn't a bad idea. Can I get you to help me set something up in one of the less popular training grounds?"

"Sure, why not; I don't have anything else planned. I can leave a clone to keep an eye on the boys until they wake up."

"Planning to yell at your son some more?"

"No, I need him to understand that keeping his Mokuton or his mahou secret is not as important as protecting himself. I don't want him to cripple his chances of survival on a mission just to hide his abilities. I should've made certain that he knew that a long time ago. If I had, then he might not have come so close to dying last night."

"What are you going to do about the new jutsu he picked up?"

"The only thing I can do; teach him several exercises that will help him to increase his chakra reserves so that he doesn't kill himself when he starts using them in training or on missions."

"It's a shame that you can't teach him how to supplement his chakra reserves with his mahou."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Tenzou mused as he quickly analyzed the limited information he'd learned about Haruo's magic from the toads over the years. "I never thought to have him mold the two into a single energy since I've been treating his mahou as a completely separate energy source. They do share enough similarities that it should be possible though and the toads did say that it's possible for a Trueborn to mix their physical energy into their mahou."

"Is it safe for you to encourage him to experiment like that?"

"It would be far better for him to carry out those kinds of experiments under my supervision than for him to try it on his own at some point down the line."

"Point. How do you plan to go about training him to combine his mahou and chakra?"

"Well, his mahou is made from blending his mental energy with an equal amount of the natural energy that his body absorbs and he consistently combines an equal amount of mental energy with his physical energy when molding his chakra; so it would be best for him to start by combining an equal amount of chakra with his mahou. Or, in layman's terms, his goal would be to combine an equal amount of physical energy and natural energy with twice the amount of mental energy."

"Why not have him combine an equal amount of all three energies?"

"I suppose that too would be an option but in that instance, he wouldn't be combining his mahou and his chakra because both the natural energy he absorbs and his physical energy would be out of balance with his mental energy since there would only be half as much there to balance both. I'm also worried that doing it that way might lead to my son transforming himself into some kind of animal and getting stuck in an alternate form because there was no one here to teach him how to change back."

"I'm sorry; did you just say that it was possible for your son to transform himself into an animal? Are you talking about an advanced type of henge? Because I'm positive that Haruo knows full well how to cancel a henge."

"The toads spoke of a legend that claims Trueborns can assume the form of an animal by combining their physical energy with their mahou. And no, it's not a mere henge. It's supposedly a true transformation that turns their body into the body of whatever animal it is they turn into and it's purported to be near impossible to distinguish between a transformed Trueborn and an actual animal."

"Sugoi. Such a trick would be exceedingly useful for infiltra…"

"You are _not_ allowed to encourage my son to mess with things we have no hope of fixing in the event that something goes wrong," Tenzou growled as he cut Kakashi off mid-sentence. "I don't care if you are his Jounin sensei, you will _not_ take needless risks with his wellbeing."

"Maa, maa, koneko-chan; I was merely pointing out how useful such an ability would be, not planning to force the gaki into acquiring said ability."

Tenzou leveled a flat glare at his captain as he retorted, "I'm not above using my Mokuton to grow splinters in tender and uncomfortable places."

"I love you too, Tenzou," Kakashi quipped with a snort of amusement. After a few minutes he grew serious once more as he asked, "Shall we leave the kiddies to their nap while we start setting up their test?"

"I'm half tempted to tell you to set up the obstacle course all by yourself but knowing you, you'd bitch and whine about having to do the heavy work and the course wouldn't be ready by the time you needed it on Monday."

"Tuesday," Kakashi countered without even making a token denial about Tenzou's insinuation that he'd pitch a fit like a spoiled two year old. "I won't test them until Tuesday because that will give me a chance to observe their preparations to see if they will need to be taught how to pack properly for missions. It'll also allow me a chance to mess with their heads to see if they can handle the pressure of an actual mission."

"I think Whiskers and my son have already proved that they can handle the pressure of an actual mission."

"True, but I can't exactly tell his future teammates that; now can I? I also can't appear to give them any kind of special treatment lest it plants seeds of resentment in the hearts of their teammates."

"When you put it that way, you might have a point," Tenzou replied with a slight grimace as both men replaced their masks before they slipped out of the apartment; the twenty-six year old pausing only long enough to form a Moku Bunshin that would keep an eye on the boys and inform him when his son finally woke up.

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**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Chigau – can be used to mean wrong, no, or to differ  
Chikushou – damn it/damn  
Hai – yes  
Kuso – swear word  
Maa, maa – now, now or there, there (a phrase used to placate someone)  
Nani – what  
Ne – used to solicit agreement or confirmation from the listener similar to using 'isn't it?' or 'right?' in English  
Ojiisan/jijii – grandfather (or old man)  
Sugoi – wonderful/wow/awesome or dreadful/terrible (depending on how it is said)  
Teichou – captain  
Toomegane no Jutsu – Telescope/Crystal Ball Viewing Technique

**Notes:**

Yet another couple of changes cropping up as here I have Kakashi remaining in ANBU right up until he is assigned to take Naruto and Haruo/Harry's team and nixed the Bell Test. That also means that Kakashi didn't earn a reputation for failing Genin teams since he was never asked to take a team after he left ANBU. How those extra years in ANBU will affect his personality and his methods of training and interacting with his Genin team will be revealed throughout the next few chapters.

Next, I'm sure more than a few people are upset with me for getting rid of the Bell Test but that is another one of those moments that is over done in FanFiction and the few attempts I made to include the test in my outline were just too stilted and too cheesy. It also would have led to the team failing because of a scene that happens in the next chapter that would have impacted the chances of all four teammates working together. Don't worry though; the Bell Test will crop up at a later date for other reasons when Kakashi feels the need to test his cute little Genin for one reason or another. =)

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**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	9. Worst Teammates Ever

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Nine: Worst Teammates Ever

_December 18, 1989, 10:53 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo silently followed Naruto into the classroom where they had attended lessons for the last four years. As they claimed a pair of empty seats near the center of the room, Haruo briefly allowed his eyes to roam over the large group of rowdy students that were already in the room. He immediately shrank in on himself when far too many eyes zeroed in on him in return; their curiosity a tangible weight hanging in the room as they stared at the bandages around his neck and his trussed up right arm (Tokage had ordered him to keep the arm in a sling until his collarbone, shoulder blade, and ribs fully healed).

"Hey, runt; what the hell happened to you?" Kiba loudly demanded the moment he laid eyes on Haruo before they cut over to land on Naruto. "And why are you here, dobe? This meeting is for those who passed the Graduation Exam; not losers like you."

"Are you blind, dog-breath? Do you not see the hitai-ate on my forehead?" Naruto countered as he spun around in his seat and reached up to flick his forehead protector. "And leave Haruo alone."

"Or what?" Kiba bravely (or stupidly) retorted while Akamaru barked a couple of times from his usual perch on top of Kiba's head a few rows back from where the two friends were sitting.

"Or I will make you," Naruto replied as his newly awakened Uzumaki temper filled the room with a very small amount of killing intent since he was merely annoyed and not truly angry.

As one, all of the children in the room with them (bar Haruo) drew back away from the pair in fear due to the dark aura that Naruto was emitting. Haruo let out a soft sigh of exasperation before he reached out to tug on the back of Naruto's jacket in order to get him to calm down.

"Enough, Naruto; he wasn't hurting me," Haruo quietly stated just seconds before the oppressive atmosphere in the room vanished the moment Naruto stopped focusing on the Inuzuka boy.

"And he won't get a chance to ever hurt you if I have anything to say about it," Naruto growled under his breath as he stubbornly crossed his arm over his chest. "I'm not going to let any one call you names any more either. Not after you nearly got killed trying to protect me from the traitor. I hate bullies."

"That's still no reason for you to make the entire class pee their pants."

"I didn't make everyone pee their pants… just half of them."

Haruo let out a soft snort while his green eyes danced with laughter over the truth in that statement. Akamaru had even peed in Kiba's hair because the puppy was perched on his partner's head. Haruo opened his mouth to make a retort only to close it a second later as a loud commotion sprang up in the door as a pair of girls tried to walk through the door at the same time while fighting one another. Haruo's little nose wrinkled in annoyance over the obnoxious arrival of Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. Those two were the biggest pair of annoyances in their class.

Worst yet, they were Fan-Girls.

Capital F. G. Fan-Girls.

They screamed shrilly each time they saw the object of their affections (in this case it was one Uchiha Sasuke). They paid far more attention to their looks than they did to their studies or their training. They relentlessly stalked the object of their affections. They cheered and swooned over each and every little thing their target did (even if was something as gross as picking his nose). They attacked anyone that dared to insult or pick on the object of their affections. And they viciously turned on one another every chance they got in an attempt to thin out their own numbers.

Sakura and Ino were the worst of that sort and they'd been at each other's throats for close to four years now. They were also considered the 'leaders' of Sasuke's Fan Club; which basically meant that they were the loudest and most vicious of the entire lot.

Haruo just couldn't understand what they saw in the dark and dour Uchiha though. Ever since the rest of the Uchiha Clan had been killed, Sasuke had grown distant and cold. Not that the boy had ever been really all that friendly towards Haruo or Naruto; though he'd initially not been quite so cruel when facing one of them in taijutsu practice. The two friends had mostly ignored the last Uchiha right up until he'd given Haruo a split lip during a taijutsu spar. Ever since then, Naruto had done his level best to knock the Uchiha off of his pedestal (without much success, unfortunately).

That had been what initially sparked Naruto earning the title of dobe (given to him by Sasuke – though Kiba was the only one that consistently used the derogatory insult).

If Haruo had been older (and therefore bigger and stronger), then he would have been tempted to start a rivalry of his own with the teme in response to him insulting Naruto. Haruo had instead taken to anonymously passing information about Sasuke's habits and routines to the jerk's fan club and targeting him with subtle pranks (like splinters on his chair or on the training posts during taijutsu practice). The rest of the time, Haruo avoided the Uchiha and did his best to ensure that he and Naruto never ended up in a situation where Sasuke's fan girls would have to go through the two of them to get to reach the object of their obsession.

It only took two full minutes for the commotion at the door to settle itself as Sakura knocked Ino aside in order to step into the classroom first. Haruo frowned and immediately searched the room for Sasuke in order to make certain he and Naruto were well out of firing range of the pink haired harpy. He nearly cringed the moment he realized that the seats Naruto had found for them were right next to Sasuke; he really wished that he'd noticed that before they'd actually sat down. Things were going to get ugly real fast the moment Sakura learned that Naruto was in 'her' seat.

"Naruto…" Haruo tried to warn only for Sakura to interrupt him.

"The two of you are in my way; move!" Sakura ordered in a haughty tone as she reached out and unknowingly latched onto Haruo's injured collarbone in an attempt to eject him and Naruto from their seats so that she could sit next to her 'precious' Sasuke-kun.

It was a mistake that she would be regretting for a long time.

The moment her hand clamped down on his half-healed injury, Haruo let out a pained cry as a lance of agony shot through the damaged bone and the chakra-sealed gash ripped open again from the pressure; causing his blood to well up and rapidly soak through the bandages, his shirt, and his jacket. Sakura jumped back in shock and let out a scream of distress the moment she noticed that her hand was covered in Haruo's blood. Naruto reacted instantly the moment he heard Haruo cry out; the blond surged up out of his chair so fast that the chair jumped off the floor and loudly crashed into the desk behind Naruto.

The loud noise drew every eye in the room to Naruto as the bewhiskered boy snarled at Sakura just before he shoved her away from Haruo hard enough that it sent her stumbling backwards into Ino, who had just rushed up to her rival. The two girls crashed to the ground with twin shrieks of surprise and injured pride while Naruto turned his back on them in order to make certain that Haruo was alright. The blond's eyes widened dramatically the moment he saw the still spreading bloodstain on Haruo's shirt.

"Chikushou! You're bleeding, Haruo!"

Haruo could only whimper in response as he clenched his teeth and tried not to cry over the throbbing lances of pain that continuously radiated from his damaged collarbone. Naruto's eyes narrowed in response to Haruo's whimper as he went from worried to angry in the blink of an eye. He then let out an angry growl as he slowly turned back to the two girls that were scrambling back up onto their feet. Shadows seemed to gather around the blond as the dark aura from earlier returned two fold the moment his furious blue eyes locked onto Sakura's pale green eyes.

"You made my friend bleed. He was hurt bad this weekend. He almost lost his arm. He nearly died. And you _just made it worse_."

"He was in my way!" Sakura weakly insisted as she clung to Ino out of fear.

"We were here first," Naruto snarled in a low voice that sent shivers down everyone's backs and had those closest to them leaning back in an effort to get as far away from him as they could without actually getting up and fleeing.

"I didn't do it on purpose. I just wanted to sit nex…"

"I don't care! You were rude and you hurt him!" Naruto yelled suddenly as he took a single step towards Sakura while the faint sound of rattling chains filled the classroom.

It was at that exact moment that Iruka stepped into the classroom. The Chuunin took a split second to take in the tense scene laid out before him before he took immediate action to put an end to the matter before any more blood was spilled.

"Sakura, Ino; go sit down, now. Naruto, calm down this instant and return to your seat!"

The heavy weight of Naruto's unrefined killing intent vanished immediately along with the sound of clanking chains as the twelve year old reluctantly obeyed Iruka's command; Naruto was long used to listening to the Chuunin inside of the classroom. He didn't exactly go quietly though.

"Haruno hurt Haruo. She grabbed his injured shoulder and made him bleed again!"

"It was an accident; I didn't know he was hurt," Sakura countered in a distressed tone.

"That's because you were being stupid and rude because you wanted to throw us out of our seats even though we were here first!" Naruto snapped back as he craned his head around to glare at her.

"ENOUGH!" Iruka bellowed as his head appeared to swell up to ten times its normal size. "I want everyone to sit down and shut up right now. The first person who so much as looks like they're going to stand up or open their mouth without my express permission will be stuck scrubbing out every single one of the Academy toilets with a toothbrush for the next twelve months! Understood?"

As one, every single newly promoted Genin (bar Haruo who was in too much pain to really pay attention) in the room nodded their heads so fast that they were in danger of snapping their necks; not a single one of them even daring to verbally affirm their understanding of the situation. Iruka scowled at the lot of them for a long minute before he strode over to his desk and pulled out the large first aide kit he kept in the bottom drawer.

"Haruo-kun, come down here and let me see how much damage was done."

Haruo gingerly climbed to his feet as he tried not to shift his arm lest he exacerbate the amount of pain he was currently feeling and slowly made his way to the front of the room. As soon as he reached the Chuunin, he was helped out of the brown and green jacket he was only half wearing (he'd not bothered to put his right arm in the sleeve because of the sling he was wearing). Iruka then removed the sling, carefully pulled his shirt off, and removed the blood soaked bandages; revealing the chakra-sealed gashes and accompanying bruises on his side, back, and collarbone to the class.

More than a few gasps rang out over the severity of the injuries while a couple of the girls in the class grew faint over the sight of blood still flowing from the reopened gash on Haruo's collarbone. Haruo automatically hunched his shoulders in response to the feel of eyes on his bare torso and immediately regretted it as the slight movement sent yet another lance of pain through all three of his injuries.

"Try to hold still, Haruo-kun," Iruka gently instructed as he lifted the nine year old up onto his desk so he could easily clean and examine the bleeding injury. "It looks like I'll just need to stop the bleeding. Once I can stop the bleeding, I'll spread a bit of topical anesthetic cream on it to numb the pain enough as well so that you will be able to sit through the team assignments. I'll take you to the hospital to have it fixed up properly after that."

"I'm only allowed to let Tokage treat my injuries," Haruo quietly countered at a volume that was too low for anyone but Iruka to hear before he bit his lip in an effort to ignore the renewed pain as Iruka gently pressed a thick stack of gauze over Haruo's injury in order to stop the bleeding.

"Gomen," Iruka apologized in response to his low whimper even though he refused to let up the light pressure he was placing on the injury. "Do you know where to find him?"

"No, sensei-nii usually hunts him down when I get hurt."

"Alright, I guess that means that I'll have to hunt him down and bring him back here since it wouldn't be prudent to drag you all over the village in your current condition."

Haruo simply nodded in reply before he let out a pained hiss as Iruka gently dabbed a numbing cream onto the gash now that it was no longer bleeding. After a few minutes, he deftly secured a clean section of folded gauze in place with a bit of surgical tape and a roll of bandages before he put Haruo's right arm back in the sling and helped Haruo put his jacket back on. His blood soaked t-shirt would then be crammed into his utility pouch so he could wash it later.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei," Haruo murmured as he was lifted down off the desk now that the man was finished.

"You're welcome, Haruo-kun. Go ahead and return to your seat now so that I can get to the team assignments."

Haruo nodded and obeyed as quickly as he could without jarring his arm. Once he reached his seat, he shoved the chair right up next to Naruto's chair before he sat down and leaned against his friend. He then let out a silent sigh of relief as the numbing cream Iruka had spread on his injury finally began working and tuned out Iruka's lecture on what was expected of them now that they were Shinobi of the Leaf. It was a lecture that Haruo had heard many times from Kuma through the years after the man had first started training him. Thinking of Kuma brought a small frown to Haruo's face.

He still didn't know what to think about the man now that he knew he was his father.

Haruo had been far too young when his parents (his mother and stepfather) died to understand that James Potter wasn't his father. He still vaguely recalled his mother referring to his stepfather as Daddy Prongs and making veiled references to someone she'd called Daddy Haruo but he had never really thought about what that actually meant until Kuma had revealed the fact that he was Haruo's real father. Part of him wanted to hate the man for hiding that from him for so long. The rest of him couldn't help but be happy because he liked Kuma; the man had saved him from the Dursleys and taught him all kinds of cool things.

Knowing that Kuma was his father also filled in the blanks about why the two of them shared the same Kekkei Genkai and why the man had bothered to train Haruo in the first place. Despite the fact that Kuma had remained somewhat distant and didn't take Haruo home with him, he still cared enough to teach Haruo everything he needed to know about using and controlling his Mokuton. The fact that he had chosen to remain a part of Haruo's life instead of disappearing entirely was part of the reason why Haruo wasn't completely furious with the man.

And the man had only hidden that information to protect Haruo or at least that was what he'd said.

As he thought about the reason why Kuma had hidden the truth of his relationship to Haruo, the nine year old reached up to let his fingers dance over the snug layer of bandages that hid the mostly healed but still tender scar on his throat. The entire incident with Mizuki had driven home the knowledge that this world was far more dangerous than the world he'd lived in previously. He would never forget the sheer anguish that had been etched onto Naruto's face the moment Mizuki had taken Haruo hostage.

Nor would he ever forget the very tangible rage that had filled the clearing the instant Naruto had realized just how close Mizuki had come to killing Haruo.

A shiver raced down Haruo's spine as he unconsciously pressed closer to Naruto. He had come far too close to losing his only friend that night. It wasn't his own death that frightened him. No, it was the knowledge that Mizuki's true goal had been to kill Naruto that truly terrified him. Kuma may be his father (and something of a brother slash mentor) but Naruto was his entire world. It had been Naruto that had protected Haruo from the bullies. It had been Naruto that had taught him how to speak Japanese. And it had been Naruto that had kept him company during the nights when old nightmares had haunted Haruo's dreams.

Haruo's attention was drawn back to the present at that moment as he heard Iruka calling his name.

"…Haruo, and Uzumaki Naruto; your Jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight is Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba; your Jounin sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai. Team Nine is still…"

Haruo tuned Iruka out at that point as he sat up and poked Naruto in the side. The moment the blond glanced at him, Haruo used the ANBU Sign Code they had been taught to ask, '_Who do we have for a teammate?_'

'_Haruno and Uchiha,_' Naruto replied in kind after a brief hesitation.

'_That sucks,_' Haruo signed as his nose wrinkled with distaste.

'_Could have been worse; we could have had Kiba on our team._'

'_Nothing is worse than the pink banshee unless it is both the pink banshee and the blonde bimbo._'

'_That's not funny,_' Naruto retorted with a shudder.

'_I wasn't trying to be funny._'

Their conversation was cut short at that point as the sound of chair legs scraping across the floor filled the classroom as the other students stood up and left the room in droves. Confused, because they had missed the rest of Iruka's speech, the two friends exchanged a brief glance before they climbed to their feet and automatically trailed after the other freshly promoted Genin. They hadn't even reached the door before they were stopped by Iruka.

"Haruo, you will need to wait in the classroom while I track down Tokage to tend to your injury. I trust I don't have to warn the two of you not to make a mess of the room while I'm gone, ne?"

"We'll behave, Iruka-sensei," Naruto promised with an out of character seriousness that Haruo knew was entirely due to the fact that the older boy was worried about him.

"Good. Did the two of you pack yourselves something for lunch? No? In that case, I will pick you up something on my way back since you will not have time to grab something yourselves by the time I find Tokage and he's finished dealing with Haruo's shoulder since you are supposed to meet with your Jounin sensei at one and it's already twelve fifteen."

The Chuunin Instructor left the room a few seconds later while the two of them returned to their seats. After a couple of minutes, Naruto turned to Haruo and asked, "Are you still in pain?"

"A bit… but it's not as bad as it was earlier. Iruka-sensei put stuff on it to numb the pain."

"Haruno had better not touch you again or I'll…"

"Do nothing," Haruo finished as he poked Naruto in the side. "She's our teammate now, unfortunately, and if you get into a scrap with her, it will only get you in trouble; especially if you get into a scrap with her on a mission or during training. It wasn't her fault that I got hurt and rudeness aside, it _was_ an accident."

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't grabbed you. She shouldn't have been touching you in any case. If she wanted us to move, she could have just asked instead of being a bully about it."

Haruo just shook his head in exasperation; there was really nothing he could say since Naruto was correct. He was at least thankful that Naruto had long since lost the crush he'd once had on the pink haired nuisance. That little phase had lasted all of one hour because the then nine year old Sakura had pushed a six year old Haruo into a tree in her hurry to catch up to Sasuke before Ino could. Naruto never did forgive her for that. Haruo hadn't either. It was one of the reasons why he did his best to stay as far away from Sasuke as possible; since Sakura and Ino both chased the orphaned Uchiha nonstop.

It was at that point that Haruo recalled that Naruto had said that Sasuke was on their team as well and the nine year old let out a loud groan as he dropped his head onto the desk in front of him with a loud thunk. They had the most annoying boy in class and his biggest fan on their team; meaning that it was going to be near impossible to escape the drama or the screeching. Maybe he should have tried harder to talk Naruto into waiting another year before they graduated?

"What's wrong?"

"We're doomed; doomed I say!"

"I thought I told you not to mess around while your injuries were still healing," Tokage's familiar voice growled lightly as the door opened to admit the masked medic at that exact moment.

"It wasn't Haruo's fault!" Naruto defended as he scowled at the medic while at the same time Haruo insisted, "I didn't do anything."

"You need to pay more attention to your surroundings no matter where you are or what you are doing so that you can avoid getting reinjured by someone else's carelessness in the future," Tokage sternly instructed as he moved Haruo from his chair, set him on a desk, and pulled his jacket down so he could start working on Haruo's collarbone. "You're lucky that the person who grabbed you didn't strike you instead; since she could have easily broken your collarbone due to the fact that the bone is still weak where it was damaged."

"Why didn't you just heal the bone? And why couldn't you stitch him back together better?" Naruto asked with a slight frown.

"It takes far too much chakra to heal damaged bones and significant tissue damage. It would require the help of two or three additional medics to perform the necessary jutsu used to regenerate damaged bones and completely heal all of the damaged tissue; something that's not possible due to the fact that I'm currently the only medic authorized to treat Haruo-kun."

"Can't you do anything to speed it up though?"

"I did," Tokage dryly pointed out as he finished his cursory inspection and placed his hands on either side of the gash on Haruo's collarbone (which caused the nine year old to briefly twitch due to the pressure making his pain spike) before he began pouring healing chakra into the wound. "Hold still, gaki."

Iruka returned just a few minutes later with a take-out box of onigiri and dango that he set on the desk that Naruto was sitting at. Both boys thanked the Chuunin for the food as Naruto deftly divided the food into two equal portions before he dug into his half of the food with gusto. Haruo spared a brief glance at the portions set aside for him before he looked away from it; he wouldn't be able to eat until Tokage finished with his shoulder lest he disrupt the man's jutsu. He wasn't really all that hungry in any case.

Tokage still hadn't finished with Haruo's shoulder before the other children began trickling back into the classroom at ten minutes before one o'clock. Each new group of kids that entered would stop and stare at the ANBU Medic tending to Haruo's injury until Iruka moved them along with an order to retake their seats. Haruo found it annoying; he hated being stared at. The only one who didn't stare was Sakura; she looked away in shame as she quickly realized that she'd done some serious harm in her rush to grab a seat next to Sasuke.

By the time the clock struck one, all of the new Genin had returned to their seats. Less than thirty seconds later, the Jounin sensei began showing up to collect their teams. Haruo absently watched each team scramble up to join their new sensei before leaving the room. After the first six teams had been called, Haruo began frowning as he noted that all of the teams had only three Genin on them rather than four like his team (he'd been unconscious when the Hokage had informed Iruka of their team dynamics and Naruto hadn't been paying attention at the time).

A quick headcount of the remaining Genin in the room told him that it was more than likely that his team was the only one with four Genin. He wouldn't receive confirmation until all of the other teams had been collected except for their team though. As soon as he knew for certain that their team had an extra body on it, Haruo began trying to figure out why their team had four people on it when all of the other ones only had three (aside from the obvious fact that there was one too many Genin that had graduated).

He was just about to open his mouth and ask Iruka-sensei why their team had an extra person when the door opened once again as yet another Jounin entered the room. The man had messy pale gray hair, a cloth face mask that covered more than half of his face, wore the standard blue shinobi uniform and green flak jacket, and wore his hitai-ate so that it covered his left eye. The moment the Jounin noted Tokage's presence, he frowned beneath his mask (at least Haruo thought he did) and strode up to stand beside Haruo to intently inspect Haruo's injury.

Haruo tilted his head to one side in confusion as he got the distinct impression that he knew the man from somewhere but couldn't recall where he might have seen him at the moment. The nine year old nearly squirmed beneath the man's gaze; the only thing that stopped him was Tokage's earlier admonishment to sit still (medics were scary if you annoyed them).

"Status report?" the Jounin demanded after another ten minutes had passed in complete silence while the Jounin watched Tokage work.

"The gash was reopened when one of Haruo-kun's classmates grabbed hold of him. He only lost about a quarter pint of blood; but even that little bit was blood that he could not afford to lose due to how much he'd lost when he was initially injured. It's also far too soon for him to take another blood replenishing pill. The good news is that his collarbone did not break during the incident but the bone will be extra tender for a while. It will be at least two weeks before he is cleared for physical training or missions though."

"Two weeks…?" Haruo repeated in horror. "That's twice what you told me yesterday!"

"Two weeks and if you tear it open again, I will make it a full month and strap you to a hospital bed until it fully heals."

"You're so mean," Haruo complained as he pouted up at the masked medic.

"Say that again and I'm liable to find a reason to stick you in a full-body cast until all of your injuries heal."

"Did I say mean…? I meant evil," Haruo cheekily muttered; a smart-mouthed retort that earned him a sharp flick on the ear when Tokage finished tending to his shoulder and released his jutsu.

"Are you finished with him now or do you plan to haul him off to the hospital?" the Jounin inquired in a tone that was laced with obvious amusement.

"I'm almost done," Tokage replied as he rebandaged the injury and helped Haruo back into his jacket before he dug out three glass vials; one filled with a clear liquid, one filled with a chalky pink liquid, and the last one filled with what looked like orange tinted syrup.

Haruo took one look at those vials and slapped his left hand over his mouth as he rapidly shook his head. He _did not_ want to drink those. He would drop his hand two seconds later when Tokage produced a plastic wrapped syringe. He was willing to drink almost anything in an effort to avoid needles. He hated needles. He downed the nausea suppressant (the orange syrup) so that he wouldn't throw up the antibiotic (the chalky pink one) or the mild painkiller (the clear one) due to fact that his magic often treated certain medicines like poison and forcefully purged them from his system.

In this case, it was the antibiotic that his magic most frequently rejected. His magic reacted negatively to chemical based dietary supplements as well; especially those found in over the counter children's vitamins. Not that he really needed them with all of the fresh fruits and vegetables in his diet; the produce he ate grown and maintained by his Mokuton in the hidden garden that Kuma had given him back when he was first brought to Konoha.

"I'll bring you your next dose later tonight."

Haruo nodded and snagged an onigiri from his uneaten lunch so he could get rid of the nasty taste that had been left in his mouth from the painkiller.

"Well, now that the drama is over; the four of you need to meet me on the roof in five minutes," the Jounin instructed before he disappeared from the room in a swirl of leaves.

"Why are all adults so mean?" Haruo demanded in a petulant tone. "Our new sensei is a jerk."

"What are you complaining about now, Haruo?" Iruka inquired in an exasperated tone as he glanced up from the small stack of paperwork that he'd been working on since he'd returned to the classroom.

"Our new sensei is mean; he's making me climb the stairs to the roof when I'm in pain."

"It was your shoulder, back, and side that were injured; not your legs," Iruka dryly pointed out.

"What a baby…" Sakura muttered just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"Urusai! It's your fault that Haruo is in pain right now," Naruto snapped as he glared at the kunoichi. "You have no right to pick on him. I bet if you had been there with us last Friday, you would have done nothing but bawl like a baby, faint, or run away. Haruo didn't cry. He didn't faint. And he didn't run. He bravely swapped places with me to save me from the giant shuriken that would have killed me." Naruto then grabbed Haruo's lunch and presented his back to the nine year old. "Come on, Haruo; I'll carry you up to the roof and you can tell our new sensei just how mean he is."

"I'd rather prank him instead."

"Can't; we promised Koneko-chan we wouldn't yesterday, remember?"

"Not fair."

"I know," Naruto agreed as Haruo latched onto his neck with one hand and wrapped his legs around his waist so he wouldn't fall off the older boy's back.

Naruto then slipped out the nearest window and began walking up the wall towards the roof in order to avoid the stairs altogether. Haruo automatically used several threads of chakra to stick himself to Naruto's back so that gravity didn't pull him from his perch. The two of them would reach the roof just two minutes later and the moment Naruto climbed over the railing that circled the edge of the rooftop, he set Haruo back on his own feet and handed him his lunch. Haruo thanked Naruto as the two of them migrated towards where their new sensei was casually leaning against the railing at the rear of the building.

The two friends had barely taken a seat near the man when their new teammates loudly burst out of the stairwell near the middle roof. Sasuke appeared to be rather irritated that he had not been the first one to reach the rooftop while Sakura looked as if she was on the verge of collapse. The girl was gasping great gulps of air after she'd run up the stairs on Sasuke's heels; the young kunoichi pathetically out of shape because she'd neglected her physical fitness in her efforts to chase after Sasuke's non-existent affection.

Naruto smirked at the pair while Haruo ignored them in favor of tucking into his lunch. He would only manage to finish one onigiri and two sticks of the dango before he handed the rest to Naruto; the nine year old's stomach somewhat upset due to the medicine he'd taken just a few minutes earlier. Haruo then turned his attention to the Jounin that had been silently observing the four newly promoted Genin from the moment they'd reached the rooftop.

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**Translations:** English to Japanese

Chikushou – damn/damn it  
Dobe – loser/dead last  
Teme – jerk/bastard (rude way of saying you)  
Urusai – shut up/be silent (rude)

**Notes:**

And now you know why there was little to no chance of Haruo/Harry and Naruto cooperating with Sakura during the Bell Test; neither one of them are going to forgive her for her carelessness any time soon. They won't be willing to work with Sasuke either because of the rivalry/tension between the three boys and the fact that Sasuke thinks it is beneath him to work with anyone he believes is weaker than him (which is pretty much most everyone in his mind at this point).

We've also seen one small change in Kakashi's personal habits that is a result of his extended membership in the ANBU Corps as while he was still the last Jounin to collect his team, he was not several hours late. Well, it's partially because of the extra time he spent in the Corps. The other reason why he wasn't later will be addressed in the story in a chapter or two.

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**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	10. Psychological Warfare

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Ten: Psychological Warfare

_December 18, 1989, 01:42 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Naruto did his best to hide his worry over the fact that Haruo didn't finish his lunch; the younger boy only ever refused food if he was sick or in a complete panic. At the moment, he knew Haruo was feeling sick because of the medicine that he'd been given by Tokage; medicine almost always made Haruo sick. He also suspected that Haruo was still in a lot of pain because the green eyed boy was sitting far too stiffly at the moment; though, that might also have been because he was more than a little nervous.

Haruo had developed a wary attitude around unfamiliar adults due to the way the two of them had been treated by a good number of adults after they'd become friends; though the women in the village often seemed rather taken with Haruo for some reason (a fact that the two of them shamelessly often took advantage of after a prank). And while Hatake Kakashi was a perfect stranger, Naruto knew the man had recently spent a lot of time with two adults that both boys trusted since Naruto could smell traces of Inu and Kuma's scents clinging to the man. He immediately forgot about the familiar scents when their new sensei began speaking.

"Now that everyone is finally here, we can get started," their Jounin sensei lazily declared the moment that Sakura and Sasuke sat down just a few feet away from Naruto and Haruo. "The first thing we need to get out of the way is proper introductions so that we all know who everyone is; in other words, tell us your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, etc."

"Will you go first and show us what you mean, sensei?" Sakura asked as she twirled a strand of her bubble-gum pink hair and tipped her head sideways to stare at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye; as if she expected the moody jerk to be pleased with her for implying that all three boys were idiots that couldn't understand how to introduce themselves.

"Sure, why not. I'm Hatake Kakashi. The four of you are welcome to call me Kakashi-sensei. I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. I haven't really given much thought to my dreams for the future. As for my hobbies; I have lots of hobbies. Why don't you go next, pinky."

"My name is Haruno Sakura," Sakura began as prompted while Naruto and Haruo shared a confused look due to the fact that they hadn't really learned anything aside from the Jounin's name and they'd already known that. "I like…" The pink haired kunoichi paused as she glanced at Sasuke and blushed before she turned back towards Kakashi. "My hobbies…" She briefly glanced at Sasuke a second time and her blush darkened. "My dreams…" A third glance in Sasuke's direction was accompanied by a smothered squeal that made both Naruto and Haruo wince as the shrill sound hurt their ears.

"And your dislikes?" Kakashi prompted in a bored tone.

"Naruto," Sakura growled as she abruptly dropped her giggly, fan-girl façade to glare at the blond in question.

Naruto flinched at the sheer venom the pink haired kunoichi injected into her voice as she said his name. He knew there were very few people in Konoha that actually liked him and now that he knew about the Kyuubi inside of him, he knew why they hated him. He'd also learned to shrug off the hateful glares and spiteful snide remarks a long time ago but that didn't mean it didn't hurt to know that he was stuck with a teammate that practically hated him.

A brief glance at the rest of his team showed him that Sasuke was actually smirking behind his hands in response to Sakura's vehemently voiced dislike of the blond. Haruo, on the other hand, had narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw as he tried to glare a hole through the girl's forehead over her intentional cruelty. Naruto almost felt sorry for Sakura; Haruo tended to hold grudges and he was not shy about getting revenge (and Haruo had already disliked the girl for the things she said and done during the past four years). And their sensei seemed rather indifferent about the matter but it was rather difficult to tell through the man's face mask.

Their new sensei then hummed neutrally before he broke the growing tension as he addressed Sasuke, "You're up next, broody."

"Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. I do not have any dreams, only ambitions; I will restore my clan and I will kill a certain someone."

Naruto barely suppressed the shiver that traced down his spine in response to Sasuke's words and tone when he'd spoken of his so called ambitions. He shot a glance at Haruo and snorted under his breath when he noticed that Haruo hadn't even heard Sasuke's dark introduction; his friend was still far too wrapped up in trying to make Sakura burst into flames with his death glare. That was actually a rather scary thought considering that the younger boy had set Mizuki on fire the other night. Too bad they'd promised Haruo's otousan that they wouldn't prank those that annoyed them now that they were Genin; it probably would have been a lot less painful for Sakura if Haruo could just prank her once to get revenge.

Though, there were bound to be ways to get around that promise if they looked hard enough. And Sakura's earlier thoughtlessness was motivation enough for Naruto to sit down and find every single loophole that would let them prank her. That's if Haruo hadn't already found the first one because of Sakura's admission that she didn't like Naruto.

Both Naruto's and Haruo's attention was pulled from their pink-haired teammate at that point as Kakashi addressed Naruto next. The way he had addressed Naruto immediately had both boys frowning; there was only one man that ever called Naruto that particular nickname (and it was not Hatake Kakashi).

"Okay, that mean's it's your turn, Whiskers."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo," Naruto proclaimed as he temporarily ignored the nickname in favor of giving his introduction as requested. "I like Haruo and ramen. I dislike waiting the three minute wait it takes to make instant ramen and I hate bullies and those who pick on my friend. I will never tell anyone but Haruo and Jijii about my dreams and my hobbies are classified under the KPA's Code of Conduct."*

"What is the KPA? And what code are you talking about?" Sakura demanded as she curled her hands into fists and scowled at Naruto in confusion.

"I can't answer that; if you don't already know, then you don't have the necessary clearance to know," Naruto replied without an ounce of shame or regret while both Sakura and Sasuke scowled in response to the brush off they'd been given; though Sasuke would probably never willingly admit to not already knowing what the KPA was.

"I guess that makes it your turn, green-eyes," Kakashi interjected before Sakura could start yelling at Naruto or attempt to demand answers from the blond.

"My name is Haruo."

Naruto quickly suppressed the smirk that had formed on his face as he immediately realized that Haruo was in the mood to be difficult when he said nothing further because he was still fairly irritated. His little friend could be as stubborn as a cantankerous mule when the mood struck him. And if he did not want to do something, then he simply would not do it unless you gave him a good enough reason or incentive to gain his cooperation. Haruo had never liked being the center of attention and he liked talking about himself even less; so there was no way he was going to actually reveal any more information about himself.

Kakashi cleared his throat after two minutes had passed in complete silence before he prompted, "Perhaps you could finish your introduction now."

"I did."

"You left out a few things… such as your likes and dislikes, your dreams, and your hobbies."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did."

"Oh. Gomen, sensei."

"That's alright. Why don't you share those with us now, ne?"

"Share what?" Haruo inquired in an innocent tone as he tipped his head to one side in apparent confusion.

"Your likes, dislikes, dreams, and hobbies," Kakashi repeated in the overly patient tone adults used when they were trying to hide just how annoyed (or amused) they were with you and Naruto had to slip a hand over his mouth to hide the huge grin that had formed on his face.

"What about them?"

"I'd like for you to share them with your teammates."

"Oh."

"Well?" Sakura demanded with a huff when Haruo didn't say anything further.

"Is too deep of a subject for those with shallow minds," Haruo quipped without an ounce of inflection as his eyes briefly flicked in Sakura's direction; their green depths flashing with barely concealed disdain and irritation.

Sakura's face turned bright red in response to the obvious insult and you could practically see the steam pouring from her ears in her anger. Naruto felt torn between laughing his ass off in response to the put down or protecting the younger boy from the girl's growing anger.

"Haruo-kun, would you please stop winding your teammate up and just finish your introduction?"

"I did."

"You did not share the rest of the information that I requested."

"So? No one else really did either but you aren't pestering them about it."

"And if I insist?" Kakashi asked as he tucked his hands into his pocket and tipped his head to the side.

"Then I would have to check with sensei-nii to find out if you have the clearance necessary to request that information from me, sensei," Haruo replied in an overly serious tone that made it even harder for Naruto to hold in his laughter. "If you do, then I will gladly meet with you later to discuss that information with you since I already know that Uchiha and Haruno do not have the proper clearance to hear my answer."

"How could your likes and dislikes or your dreams and hobbies be considered classified information?" Sakura asked in complete confusion as her anger deflated in the face of her bewilderment while Sasuke looked like he was sucking on a rotten lemon due to the fact that Haruo flat out stated he wasn't good enough to be told 'classified information'.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you," Haruo replied in a tone that said he was not in the least bit sorry.

"Why, is that classified too?" Sakura snarkily snapped in response to his smart-mouthed retort.

"No, of course not; that would be rather silly. I can't tell you why the information Kakashi-sensei asked for is classified because you're not a boy."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sakura all but yelled as she jumped to her feet; the pink haired girl once again angry.

"It means that you're a _girl_ and you wouldn't understand. And worse, you're a gossipy _Fan_-Girl. If I tell you anything, you'll just tell everyone you know because _every_one knows that a Fan-Girl couldn't keep a secret to save her life. On top of that, you don't really care about my likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams anyway."

"At least I'm not a little baby that can't even go to the bathroom alone," Sakura snapped back as she sneered at Haruo in response to his negative verbal assessment of her character.

"Urusai, Billboard Brow," Naruto snarled venomously; the blond purposefully using the hurtful insult that Ami (one of their classmates that was a well known bully) had given Sakura a few years earlier in retaliation for her belittling Haruo for his fear of being alone and implying that he wasn't old enough to take care of himself.

"Alright, enough playing around," Kakashi ordered in a tone that commanded instant obedience the moment Sakura took a single step forward and raised her fist with the obvious intention of hitting Naruto after he had called her that horrid nickname; his entire demeanor flipping from laid-back to serious in the blink of an eye. The Jounin was also the only one to notice the dark look on Haruo's face and the way he'd started to form subtle hand seals in order to protect Naruto from their teammate's ire with a jutsu. "Sakura, sit down."

The pink haired girl silently seethed as she dropped back onto the ground. Naruto briefly thought that Haruo might have been a touch too harsh on her with his assessment of her character before he recalled the fact that she'd made Haruo's injury worse earlier. There was nothing he hated more than someone hurting his only friend. And the entire incident with Mizuki last Friday had only intensified his determination to protect the younger boy. It had also made it far harder for him to control his temper after he'd unlocked his Uzumaki heritage.

It didn't help that today had not been the first time that Sakura had hurt Naruto through her own carelessness.

Kakashi waited a minute to make certain the small 'fight' was over before he got down to business, "Normally, this is where I would undermine your current confidence in yourself and your abilities by revealing the secret Genin Exam that all Jounin sensei spring on their prospective teams. I would then further scare you by informing you that the percentage of Genin that actually pass their tests is less than thirty-three percent. However, due to the unusual formation of your team, I will not be giving you the standard Genin Exam."

"What's so unusual about our team?" Naruto asked as he frowned at their sensei in confusion.

"Genin teams are typically made up of no more than three Genin; your team has four."

"Why do we have four Genin on our team, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura inquired as she scowled at Naruto and Haruo.

"There are many reasons why but they are unimportant; all that matters is that this team is unique. As such, I will be skipping the Genin Exam and jumping straight into a training exercise that will allow me to accurately gauge your current skill levels. To that end, the four of you are to gather all of your gear and meet me at Training Ground Thirty-Three at five sharp tomorrow morning. I also suggest you don't bother eating breakfast; you'll only throw it up."

Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves two seconds later; leaving the four teammates alone on the roof. Naruto took that as their cue to leave and promptly jumped to his feet before he picked up Haruo. He then dashed over the nearest side of the building in order to escape from their irritated teammate before she could remember that she was annoyed with the two of them. Once he was certain they weren't being followed by Sakura or Sasuke, Naruto set Haruo on his feet and the two of them headed home.

"Are you okay, Haruo?" Naruto asked as he caught sight of Haruo favoring his right side out of the corner of his eye.

"Mostly."

"Do you need me to carry you the rest of the way?"

"No, we're not that far from home."

It only took the two of them another eight minutes to make it home; the apartment that they'd been set up in four years earlier was close to both the Academy and the Hokage's Compound. Haruo held out their apartment key the moment they reached the stairs leading up to their place and Naruto snagged it before he dashed up the stairs to open the door and dismantle the protective traps they always set when they left. By the time he'd dismantled the final trap, Haruo had finally reached their apartment and Naruto silently passed the key back to the younger boy.

"Are you hungry, Haruo? You didn't eat much for lunch."

"No, not really. I think I'm just going to go lay down."

"Okay, I'll wake you up for supper about six, then."

"Okay," Haruo agreed before he shuffled off towards their shared bedroom.

Naruto watched him go with a frown; he hated the fact that Haruo was currently feeling miserable because of the injuries he'd gotten trying to protect him. Instead of feeling sorry for himself or getting angry like he normally would though, Naruto set about getting their shinobi gear and trapping supplies together for tomorrow. Once he had everything he thought they might need, he spent the rest of the afternoon sharpening and oiling all of their kunai and shuriken. His task would be interrupted around five-thirty when Tokage turned up to check on Haruo and give him another dose of medicine.

While the masked medic was checking up on the nine year old, Naruto headed into the kitchen to make supper. He was not as good at cooking as Haruo but he could make rice and steam vegetables for the two of them. He also boiled water for a couple of cups of instant ramen (one each instead of the usual two or three) to go with their meal. The only reason why he wasn't making it an all ramen meal that night was because steamed vegetables were Haruo's second favorite thing to eat; his first being raw vegetables and fresh fruit.

Naruto didn't really like vegetables but ate them because Haruo insisted that they were good for him and it made Haruo happy to see him eating vegetables and fruit. Smothering the cooked veggies in cheese sauce or drizzling raw veggies in ranch dressing (two tricks that Haruo had taught Naruto when they were younger) usually helped cover up the taste of them and made them easier to eat.

If he could have, Naruto would have been far happier eating nothing but ramen all day, everyday. Sadly, ramen didn't really qualify as a balanced diet and he was lucky to get two or three cups a day. If he was really lucky, he'd get to scarf between five and ten bowls of freshly made ramen from Ichiraku's Ramen Stand in a week. If not for Sakura making Haruo's shoulder worse, the two of them probably would have had fresh ramen for lunch earlier to cheer themselves up after learning who their teammates were.

Shaking his head, Naruto put his other two teammates out of his mind as he peeled and sliced carrots before tossing them in with the rest of the vegetables that were already in the steamer. Once he was finished with the carrots, he put the lid on the steamer, checked the water level, and turned it on before he measured out the rice and water and poured them into the rice cooker. The last thing he did was fill up the kettle with water and set it on the stove to heat it up for the ramen.

Haruo would shuffle into the kitchen with Tokage on his heels roughly twenty minutes later; right about the time both the vegetables and rice were finished. Naruto was very pleased to see that Haruo looked far better than he had earlier and he felt his heart unclench. Tokage left just a few minutes later, after providing another three doses of medicine for Haruo (all of them for the next day), and the two boys sat down to their meal.

After they had eaten and cleaned up the kitchen (with Naruto doing most of the work), the two of them put together a large bento for them to share for lunch the next day. Haruo also insisted that they prepare some fruit for a light breakfast despite the fact that their new sensei had warned them not to eat anything. Naruto only agreed because he didn't want to get into an argument with the younger boy over something so silly. After they'd finished making the two meals, the two of them spent a couple hours doing a few odd chores around the place (such as washing clothes and picking up trash).

The two boys had then taken showers (with Naruto carefully taping plastic over Haruo's bandages to keep them from getting wet) before they got ready for bed. The two of them then curled up in bed; though Naruto was far too excited to sleep at first. He'd dreamt of the day he'd be shinobi for years now and even though he was stuck with two teammates he couldn't stand, he couldn't find it in him to be disappointed; he still had Haruo on his team, after all.

Both boys were up two hours before dawn the next morning; Haruo's injuries waking him up as the last traces of pain killer wore off and the green eyed Genin shaking a still sleeping Naruto to wake him up in turn. Naruto groggily sat up and stretched out his back and arms as he yawned loudly in response to the shaking. He slid out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to empty his bladder a minute later. He then washed his hands and face before he returned to the bedroom to get dressed while an already half-dressed Haruo slipped into the bathroom next.

By the time he'd pulled on a clean jumpsuit and tied his hitai-ate around his forehead, Haruo had returned to the bedroom and Naruto quickly helped the younger boy into his shirt, sling, and jacket before he helped Haruo tie on his hitai-ate. The two of them then wandered towards the kitchen where they ate the light breakfast that they'd prepared the previous evening. Haruo also downed his next dose of pain reliever, antibiotic, and nausea suppressant; his face scrunching up in disgust after each one. Naruto would have laughed if not for the reason behind the other boy's need to take the medicine in the first place.

"I'm fine, Naruto," Haruo insisted when he happened to catch the look of concern that Naruto couldn't quite hide. "It doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday."

"I'm glad," Naruto sincerely replied; the boisterous blond utterly serious for all of two seconds. The seriousness melted away a moment later as it was replaced with pure excitement as he stated, "We should hurry up and head to Training Ground Thirty-Three to meet with Kakashi-sensei. I'll grab our packs while you grab lunch and your next dose of medicine."

"Okay."

Two minutes later, the two of them were trotting through the darkened streets of Konoha in the pre-dawn light as they made their way towards Training Ground Thirty-Three. Once they reached the assigned field, the two boys stopped in their tracks and eyed the elaborate obstacle course that covered a good portion of the training ground and extended into the trees. There were climbing walls, swinging ropes, rope bridges, a construct with a series of wooden rings chained to it, a stretch of tires, training posts with targets, giant mud puddles, man-made pit falls, and what looked like crude teeter-totters. There were also trip wires and seal tags; a clear indication that the course was also trapped.

"Sensei-nii helped set up this obstacle course," Haruo stated as he eyed the closest wooden climbing wall.

"Inu helped; I can smell his scent all over the place. Come to think of it, I thought I smelled Inu yesterday when we were meeting with Kakashi-sensei."

"That's because Inu is our Jounin-sensei," Haruo pointed out with a small frown.

"Nani? What do you mean?"

"Kakashi-sensei has the same flyaway old-man hair that Inu has and Kakashi-sensei called you Whiskers yesterday. The only one that ever called you that was sensei-nii and Inu always snickered when he called you that. And I'm also pretty certain that their chakra signatures are identical but it's hard to tell because Inu used to always suppress his chakra whenever he watched over us and Kakashi-sensei was doing the same thing yesterday."

"That doesn't mean anything. The hair thing and similar chakra signatures could just mean that they are brothers. And Kakashi-sensei might just hang out with Koneko-chan and Inu often enough that they shared stories about us with him."

"If that were the case, then you would have smelled Kakashi's scent underneath Inu's scent. You can check again when he shows up, if you don't believe me."

"No, I believe you," Naruto countered; he knew Haruo wouldn't have said it if he didn't have reason to believe it. "I just don't see why Inu would give up his mask just to teach us."

"Probably because sensei-nii _can't_ give up his mask to teach us instead," Haruo logically replied. "And there probably wasn't any other way for them to keep an eye on us now that we're Genin because you know none of Inu's squad trusts us not to get into trouble even when we aren't doing anything."

"That's probably because we're always doing something. Should we confront Kakashi-sensei about being Inu?"

"No, not yet; he might be unhappy with us if he knew we knew that he was Inu since no one is supposed to know who is behind an ANBU's mask. Besides, it would be more fun to make him wonder whether or not we know each time we smirk at him."

"Like a prank," Naruto agreed as a slow smirk formed on his face. "Ne, ne; how much time do we have left before the others are supposed to be here?"

"Another twenty-six minutes. Why?"

"Think we should add to the obstacle course?"

"Did you pack our supplies?"

"Of course," Naruto retorted as he slipped both packs he'd been carrying off of his back and dug into them for those trap (and prank) supplies that they hadn't used during last Friday's misadventure.

The two of them might have promised not to prank people in retaliation now that they were official shinobi but that promise didn't include anything about not improving training exercises with specialized traps that promised humiliation instead of bodily harm when tripped. Some might call it splitting hairs but Naruto and Haruo specialized in finding and abusing even the smallest loophole when the situation merited it. And the two boys owed Sakura a right proper pranking; Naruto because he was still mad at her for making Haruo's injury worse yesterday and Haruo because he was more than a little upset with the way she'd insulted and threatened Naruto.

That Sasuke could potentially get caught up in the traps was just an added bonus.

Supplies in hand, the two boys slunk through the obstacle course with a small army of Kage Bunshin helpers courtesy of Naruto. Haruo mostly just held one of the torches and kept a sharp eye out for trip wires and pressure traps while Naruto kept watch for pit falls and rope traps. Each time they reached a suitable location for one of their little additions, Naruto and his clones would deftly set up the trap while Haruo kept track of the time, kept an eye out for their teammates and sensei, and made certain the trap was well hidden once it had been armed.

A dozen traps and nineteen minutes later, the two of them finished pranking the obstacle course. They could have easily set twice that many traps if they hadn't needed to be extra careful to avoid setting off the existing traps. In some cases, they'd even taken precious time to figure out the purpose of the training traps in order to anticipate which way their teammates would jump to avoid the trap so that they could set one of their prank traps up to catch them instead. That was a trick that Inu had taught them during the trap training he'd given them over the last six years.

Once they finished setting the last trap, the two of them gathered up their things and made themselves scarce so that they could 'show up' after their teammates arrived and make it look like someone else had set the prank traps.

Sasuke would be the first one to arrive at exactly five o'clock looking exceedingly grumpy and only half awake. Sakura showed up just three minutes after that looking like some sort of walking zombie. Apparently, their teammates were not morning people. Not that Naruto was either but after living with Haruo for years, he'd learned to how to cope with being dragged out of bed before the sun rose on a regular basis since the nine year old was a morning person. Early mornings were also the best time for sneaking about since there were far fewer people out and about the village at that time of day.

Naruto would then carry Haruo back onto the training grounds just two minutes later; giving the impression that they were late because he'd had to carry the younger boy all the way there. No greetings were exchanged between the four of them as they settled down into two obvious groups; Naruto and Haruo in one and Sasuke in the other with Sakura attempting to cozy up to her crush. Sakura didn't even make an attempt to call them out on their tardiness like they had half expected her to but that might have been because she was far too busy ignoring them in her latest efforts to win Sasuke's affections.

Their new instructor would show up roughly ten minutes after Naruto and Haruo revealed themselves; the Jounin running about fifteen minutes late (much as he had when he was supposed to pick them up the previous day). Naruto wondered if that was going to be an every day thing or if it was just because the unmasked Inu needed a few days to adjust to his new schedule. He then put the matter out of his mind since it wasn't like the guy was turning up three hours late all the time.

_In another universe, a guy that could have been Kakashi's twin let out a violent sneeze and glanced around him a little warily as he tried to figure out who could have been talking about him before he checked the time. Seeing that he'd only been there for about two hours so far, the man resumed talking to the Memorial Stone in front of him as he regaled the dead with stories of the living._

_Back in the universe where our story takes place… _

"Ohayou gozaimasu, my cute little Genin," Kakashi greeted in a chipper voice as he strolled up to where the four of them were hovering about the entrance to the training grounds.

"Ohayou, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto and Haruo replied in perfect synchronization as they turned towards the man.

"Ohayou, sensei," Sakura parroted several heartbeats after the two friends while Sasuke merely grunted in response.

"I hope the four of you are ready for an exhausting morning…"

"Haruo's not allowed; Tokage said so," Naruto all but growled as he interrupted their sensei.

"Don't worry your cute little blond head, Whiskers; I have no plans to run green-eyes into the ground," Kakashi replied as he dropped his hand on Naruto's head and ruffled his hair. "He will, however, be mentally exhausted by the time I am finished grilling him on his skills and knowledge. I will also be working with him on his chakra control."

"Can I do the obstacle course instead? I promise not to run or use my right arm," Haruo retorted as he ducked behind Naruto to half hide from Kakashi; the younger boy hamming it up because it made people underestimate him.

"Maybe you should have studied while we were in the Academy instead of goofing around like an idiot," Sakura meanly taunted as she threw a smug smirk at Haruo.

"Haruo's not an idiot and he did study," Naruto snapped back as he scowled at the kunoichi.

"If that's true, then he shouldn't be afraid of a little test. I wouldn't be afraid of a test and neither would Sasuke-kun; the two of us were ranked as the top two students in Iruka-sensei's class."

"Actually, that's not true," Kakashi interjected before Naruto could make another retort. "Hyuuga Hinata was the top kunoichi of your class and she was followed closely by Yamanaka Ino; you came in third because your physical training fell well below that of the other two girls, pinky."

Sakura looked rather stunned by that knowledge but that didn't stop her from asking, "But Sasuke-kun was still Rookie of the Year, ne?"

"Yes, but he only earned that title by a very small margin due to Haruo being physically weaker as a result of his current age. If Haruo was the same age as the rest of you, he could have potentially earned the title of Rookie of the Year instead of Sasuke," Kakashi replied and Naruto felt Haruo thump his head into his back as their raven haired teammate shot a scowl in Haruo's direction upon learning that he'd nearly lost the top spot to the younger boy. "But enough talking; you three have an obstacle course to run so listen up while I explain what you will be doing."

"The obstacle course you see in front of you is exactly five miles long and contains over one hundred obstacles that you will be required to surmount. Those obstacles include several traps, natural obstructions, and man-made impediments that you will need to conquer in order to complete the course. On top of that, there are twenty-five stationary and twenty-five moving targets that you will be required to attack as you travel through the course; some of which are concealed or partially obscured."

"Additionally, there are three objectives that you will need to accomplish: one, is to complete the course in the shortest time possible; two, is to avoid triggering as many of the hidden traps as you can; and three, is to score as many points as you can by hitting the scattered targets throughout the course with your kunai and shuriken. The closer you are to hitting a bull's-eye on each target, the higher your score will be at the end. Missed or skipped targets will see points deducted from your over all score."

"In order to avoid disputes over whose weapons hit where on what targets, each of you will tie a colored strip of ribbon to your kunai rings and apply a bit of the same color paint to your shuriken; I suggest you avoid putting the paint on the blades of the shuriken since it will only come off when it hits the targets. The three of you can start doing that while I cover the rest of the rules."

Kakashi tossed them each a packet of ribbons, a bottle of craft paint, a paint brush, and a heavy box filled to the brim with extra kunai and shuriken at that point; Naruto getting orange, Sakura getting pink, and Sasuke getting white. Haruo snagged the paint, paintbrush, and the shuriken from him and sat down to color code the throwing stars while Naruto (and the half dozen clones that burst into existence next to him) was left to tie the ribbons to his kunai. As they worked, Kakashi continued going over the rest of the rules.

"Next, in order to accomplish your objectives, you are allowed to use any skills that you have been taught; that includes things you learned outside of the Academy. The only exception to that rule is that you are not allowed to use any fire based ninjutsu that could potentially destroy any of the obstacles since more than half of the course is made out of wood. What that basically means is that you must leave the obstacles in tact so that the rest of your teammates can complete the course when it is their turn."

"Additionally, if you step outside of the courses boundaries, as marked by the red lines, you will have to run back to the start of the course and start all over again without the benefit of your time being restarted. You will each be running through the course alone the first time before all three of you will run it at the same time and then I will send you through in pairs. Each pass through the course will have added objectives designed to test your stamina and stealth in addition to your ability to follow directions."

"And finally, the person with the lowest score average and worst over all time at the end of the morning will not get to eat lunch as punishment," Kakashi finished as he produced a stack of bento meals and set them on a conveniently grown stump near the entrance to the training grounds. "Any questions? No? Then let's get started; Naruto, you're up first since you've already finished marking your weapons."

"Yosh! Here I go!" Naruto bellowed as he quickly stuffed the throwing weapons to their respective pouches before he jumped up onto his feet while his clones dispersed in a cloud of smoke and ran to the starting line of the obstacle course.

"Good luck, Naruto," Haruo called out from his seat on the ground and Naruto beamed at the younger boy as he gave him a thumbs-up in response.

"On your mark," Kakashi stated as he moved to stand between the start and finish lines of the obstacle course before pulling out a stop watch to time each run through the course. "Get set! Go!"

And Naruto was off and running as he headed straight for the first obstacle (a ten foot wooden wall that he had to scale in order to advance through the course) with a huge grin on his face.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Gomen – I'm sorry (informal)  
Nani – what  
Ne, ne – one way of getting someone's attention, can be a sort of childish way of saying hey, hey  
Ohayou/ohayou gozaimasu – good morning (just 'ohayou' is similar to saying 'morning')  
Yosh(i) – an enthusiastic affirmative; can be translated as yes, okay, alright, etc…

**Notes:**

KPA – Konoha's Prankster Association: just a bit of silliness I invented that will be explained later in the story.

Naruto's Dream – now, before any one calls foul because I didn't have Naruto say his dream was to become the Hokage and surpass the other Hokages, I just wanted to say that that hasn't changed. Naruto still wants to be Hokage and he still wants to prove himself worthy of the entire village's respect. The only real difference here is that he's not crowing his dream out loud for the entire village to hear because he doesn't want any one to mock his dreams. Right now, it's also enough for him that Haruo knows and supports his dream.

The Obstacle Course – no, Naruto and Haruo/Harry didn't run through the full five mile course in nineteen minutes; they were cheating by cutting across the course in order to set up their traps and using Naruto's Kage Bunshin. They also didn't venture into those sections of the course that ran through the trees surrounding the training grounds since they were limited on how much time they had to set everything up.

Sakura's Class Ranking – yep, I cut Sakura out from the top kunoichi position because I really don't think Genin Sakura deserved it. I also don't think that Ino deserved it. My reasoning? Both of them were far more interested in chasing after Sasuke than they were in training. And while Hinata is shy, a little too 'nice', and lacks confidence, I think she is at least equal to both girls as far as intelligence goes with her physical training being a little higher simply due to which clan she is from. Plus there's the fact that I could easily see her father demanding that she 'not embarrass' the clan. Yeah, I know; it's been done in FanFiction before but I like Hinata's character.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, I have no plans to bash Sakura throughout the entire story like I have in the past two chapters. I like Sakura's Shippuden character far better than I liked her Genin character because of the way she treated Naruto and how useless she seemed to be during practically every single event of note. I lost count of the number of times she screamed or cried during the Naruto anime because she did it repeatedly in every single arc.

So, while she's being painted in a terrible light now, she will improve once she realizes she needs to change; which will happen far sooner than it did in canon, in case you were wondering. I make no promises on Sasuke's character because I like him even less than I like Sakura because he got worse after he left the village. I've also redeemed him in at least two other stories so, I'll probably paint him as evil in this one unless my muse demands a proper intervention to 'cure' him of his need to be an anal retentive, revenge and power obsessed traitor.

* The dialogue for team meeting was based upon or taken directly from Season 1, Episode 4 of the Naruto anime.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	11. Personalized Training

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Personalized Training

_December 19, 1989, 05:23 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo watched Naruto scramble over the first wall of the obstacle course with ease before he turned his attention to the dirty paint brush he was holding and his paint splattered hands. Sighing, he transferred the handle of the brush to his right hand and cupped his left hand around the tip as he began using his water affinity to pull moisture from the air so that he could rinse the paint off of the paintbrush and his hands. He was nearly finished when his remaining two teammates finally noticed the wobbly globe of orange tinted water wrapped around his hands and the paintbrush.

"How are you doing that?" Sasuke asked as Haruo pulled the water away from the paintbrush and his right hand now that he'd finished removing the paint from the tip; the first sentence that the Uchiha survivor had ever spoken to Haruo (not counting his introduction the previous day since that hadn't actually been directed at the young Mokuton user – not that he'd have heard it if it had been, since he'd been too busy being angry with Sakura at the time).

"What exactly is it you're doing anyway?" Sakura demanded on the heels of Sasuke's question.

"It's just simple water manipulation," Haruo replied as he bounced the canon ball sized globe of orange tinted water in his left hand a couple of times before he lobbed it over his shoulder where it harmlessly splashed against the trunk of a tree (the traces of paint in the water perfectly harmless since all of Konoha's shinobi used environmental friendly paints to avoid killing off the forests that are scattered through the village or tainting their many water sources beneath the village).

He then answered Sasuke's question, "I was using my chakra to draw the moisture from the air and more chakra to keep it in the air so I didn't get myself wet."

"Show me how," Sasuke practically ordered as he all but glared at Haruo for some reason.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you didn't ask nicely," Haruo retorted with a slight scowl.

"Don't be such a jerk to Sasuke-kun! He deserves to learn anything you know because we're on the same team," Sakura interjected as she glared at

"Demanding that another shinobi teach you their hard won skills is not a good way to earn their friendship and respect," Kakashi stated rather darkly as he suddenly appeared behind both Sasuke and Sakura. "That is doubly so when the shinobi you are making demands of is your teammate. Furthermore, as the Jounin instructor assigned to this team, it is my duty to determine who learns what jutsu and to subsequently teach those jutsu that I believe you are capable of learning. And right now, neither of you are ready to learn nature manipulation."

"Then why does he know how to manipulate water?" Sakura inquired with some confusion as she glanced between Haruo and their sensei.

"Sensei-nii taught me water and earth manipulation after I mastered the three basic chakra control exercises two years ago," Haruo answered as he deftly tucked the left over orange paint and extra ribbons that Naruto and his clones had left on the ground into his pack along with the now clean paintbrush.

"What three chakra control exercises are you talking about? The only chakra control exercise I've ever heard of is the Leaf Concentration exercise that everyone is taught in the Academy."

"Leaf Concentration is just the first exercise, the second exercise is Kunai Floating," Haruo stated as he pulled out a kunai and held it flat on his hand before he pushed the kunai off of his palm with chakra until it was floating an inch into the air. "The third exercise is Kunai Spinning." A little concentration coupled with a brief flare of chakra set the kunai floating above Haruo's hand spinning horizontally for a few seconds before a second, larger spike of chakra shifted the kunai upwards so that it was now spinning vertically with the point centered over his palm.

"Why don't they teach the two kunai exercises in the Academy?" Sakura asked as she drew a kunai out of her utility pouch so she could try both exercises herself.

"Kunai Floating and Kunai Spinning are both highly dangerous to learn since it would be far too easy for someone to launch their kunai high enough that it could injure or kill them or a classmate if they weren't paying attention," Kakashi explained; his words making Sakura jump in surprise before she hastily put the kunai away. "Both exercises are usually taught to newly graduated Genin once they've demonstrated a certain level of control over the Leaf Concentration exercise but some instructors choose to skip them altogether and have their Genin go straight to Tree Climbing."

"What's so hard about climbing a tree? I taught myself how to do that long before I joined the Academy."

"Haruo, would you care to give a demonstration?" Kakashi prompted after he cast a quick glance towards the obstacle course where Naruto was about a quarter of the way through the five miles of obstacles.

Haruo sighed before he hauled himself up to his feet, walked up to the nearest tree, and planted his left foot on the tree before he began walking up the side of the tree until he reached the first branch. He then sat down on the branch and stared down at his gaping teammates.

"That's how Naruto carried you up onto the roof yesterday," Sasuke stated with a slight frown. "Does that mean that Naruto also knows how to do the Kunai Floating and Spinning exercises?"

"Nope, Naruto has too much chakra to learn the beginning exercises properly. It's the same reason why he could never get the Leaf Concentration exercise right and why he can't make a regular Bunshin. My chakra control would be just as terrible if I hadn't been doing chakra control exercises since I was three because my reserves are five times larger than average. Naruto's are at least fifteen times larger than mine and he didn't start learning chakra control exercises until he was six; which is why he still has so much trouble."

"Why did you start learning to control your chakra when you were so young?" Sakura wondered as a small frown creased her overly large forehead at the same time as Sasuke inquired, "Will you be teaching me how to do the Tree Climbing exercise, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Sasuke, I will eventually have both you and Sakura learn Kinobori no Waza; just not today," Kakashi answered first before he turned to address Haruo. "You can come down now, green-eyes; I need to start testing you."

"Will you answer my question now?" Sakura asked after Haruo had descended the tree in the same manner he'd used to climb it in the first place.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it," Haruo blandly replied as he knew it would drive the pink haired kunoichi crazy to know that he was withholding information from her and the scowl on her face was proof enough that she was annoyed by his answer.

Before any insults could be exchanged, Kakashi cleared his throat and stated, "Sasuke, Sakura; the two of you should finish getting ready for your turn to run through the obstacle course as Naruto is well over halfway through the course already." He then formed a familiar cross seal with both of his hands before he called out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," and three shadow clones promptly burst into existence in a cloud of smoke (two of them immediately taking off towards the obstacle course). "Haruo, you'll be working with this clone while I supervise the others. You'll need this as well."

Kakashi pulled a scroll from his utility pouch and passed it directly to the nine year old who stared at the security seal locking the scroll shut for a few seconds before he asked, "What's it supposed to be, Kakashi-sensei?"

"It contains the promised instructions for two new exercises, the equipment needed for the first exercise, and a supplemental jutsu that a certain mutual friend agreed to provide you with after what happened this past weekend."

Haruo wrinkled his nose and half scowled at the scroll in his hand as he immediately realized it came from Kuma. He then sighed and stuffed the scroll in his pocket before he grabbed hold of his pack (in case he needed anything from it) and turned towards the remaining Kage Bunshin for instructions.

"Follow me, green-eyes," the clone instructed as he headed towards the trees that lined the northern side of the training grounds.

Haruo hesitated to follow him as he cast a glance towards the obstacle course where he could just make out Naruto's orange and blue clad form darting between the trees.

"You'll not be going too far, Haruo; Naruto will still be within yelling distance," Kakashi pointed out as he gave Haruo a gentle shove in the direction the man's clone was moving. "And you'll be back by the time the others are finished with their final run through the obstacle course so that all four of you can eat lunch together; or rather, three of you can eat lunch together while the fourth watches as punishment."

Haruo nodded and reluctantly disappeared into the trees with his sensei's clone. He didn't have to go too far before he found the clone waiting for him in a little clearing that was almost too small to be designated as such since it was more of a lessening of trees and undergrowth than a true clearing.

"What now, Bunshin-sensei?" Haruo asked once it became clear that they would not be going any further.

"You do know that I am an exact copy of the original me and that the real me will get my memories once I dispel so that it will be as if I was really here instead of just a clone, ne? That means that you are welcome to call me Kakashi-sensei."

"Hai, I know; but even if you do look like yourself, you're not actually the real Hatake Kakashi and it'd be too weird calling a clone by Kakashi-sensei's name. So therefore you are Bunshin-sensei and the other clones are Bunshin-sensei two and three so I can keep track of who I'm talking to or about when I tell Naruto about my test later."

"You're a rather stubborn little gaki, aren't you?"

"I learned from the best," Haruo quipped with a small smirk; he firmly believed that Naruto was far more stubborn than he was even if most people that knew both boys thought they were equally stubborn.

Kakashi's clone snorted in amusement before he gestured to the scroll that was partially sticking out from Haruo's pocket, "Do you wish to start with the scroll that Kuma put together for you or would you like me to test you on those skills that won't aggravate your injuries first?"

"How do you know sensei-nii?" Haruo asked instead of answering the question; the nine year old curious as to how his sensei would skirt around the issue of his former involvement in ANBU.

"I've worked with him a time or two in the past and we've kept in touch over the years."

_Sneaky Inu; he didn't admit to anything,_ Haruo thought to himself the moment he heard the Bunshin's reply before he dug the scroll he'd been given back out of his pocket.

He then channeled a small burst of chakra into the security seal on the scroll; causing the paper holding the seal to glow yellow for a brief moment before it crumbled to dust. He then unraveled the scroll to find instructions on yet another type of chakra control exercise and a chakra building exercise (that would increase the size of his reserves) in addition to a low level sensory jutsu that doubled as a chakra building and chakra control exercise on top of allowing him to further develop his natural abilities as a chakra sensor. There were also a pair of storage seals; one that held two dozen half-ounce disks made from chakra metal according to the description while the other held two dozen half-ounce glass disks.

"The first exercise sounds a lot like the Leaf Concentration exercise," Haruo muttered out loud as he frowned down at the scroll in his hands.

"That's because the Disk Concentration exercise is a derivative of the Leaf Concentration exercise," the clone stated as he assumed that the comment meant that Haruo had decided to work on the scroll first. "The difference is that it takes more effort to hold the disks in place; the amount of effort involved directly related to the type of material the disk is made out of. It will grow even more difficult when you start using two or more types of disks at the same time since you will need to learn how to automatically compensate for the different levels of chakra needed to hold each type in place."

"Why does it matter what the disks are made out of?"

"It matters because each material reacts differently when exposed to chakra. We can use the two types you were given as examples. The chakra metal disks easily absorb chakra and can actually take on the property of the chakra used on them (such as water or fire natured chakra). However, the glass disks are the complete opposite as the smooth surface of the glass actually repels chakra; which is one of the reasons why it's rather difficult to walk on glass surfaces using the Tree Climbing exercise."

"Does that mean that there's a trick to walking on glass; since you said it was difficult and not impossible?"

"There are actually at least three tricks that I know of that will allow a person to walk on glass," the clone replied. "The first trick is to spread your chakra out far enough that it touches the wooden or metal casing that the glass is set in so that it acts like a tarp over the surface of the glass; allowing you to cling to your chakra instead of the glass itself. The second trick is to focus your chakra into the pits and chips that all exterior windows develop over time due to the wind blowing sand and other debris into them. And the third trick is to shape your chakra in such a way that it forms little air pockets that will act like suction-cups when you walk across the surface of the glass."

"Now, can you see the flaws in each trick and tell me why just knowing one of the tricks wouldn't let you walk across any glass surface?"

"The first trick would take a lot of chakra depending on the size of the window you are trying to cross; something that would be bad for people with small chakra reserves or if you are trying to hide your presence," Haruo answered after thinking about how each trick worked. "The second trick won't work on newer windows. Plus there might not be enough pits and chips for you to cross the entire window and then you'd be stuck if the window was big enough. And the last trick sounds like the hardest because you'd have to have very good chakra control and large reserves in order to use it to cross larger surfaces; otherwise you could fall off or crack the window when you tried to walk."

"Very good; now which one of those tricks do you think would be best to apply to the glass disks you are required to use for the Disk Concentration exercise?"

"The first trick; because I can wrap the entire disk in my chakra since that would prevent my chakra from just sliding off of the surface. The third trick would work too but it would be harder because I wouldn't be able to use my weight to make the 'air pockets' in my chakra stick to the glass."

"Very well reasoned, green-eyes; why don't you take out one of each disk and spend the next half an hour practicing the Disk Concentration exercise before we move on to the second exercise that Kuma provided you with."

"Hai," Haruo agreed as he sat down on the ground before he channeled his chakra into both of the storage seals in order to release their contents.

Twin puffs of smoke soon heralded the contents of the two seals and when the smoke cleared, Haruo found himself looking at a pair of small leather bags that clinked and rattled when he picked them up. He quickly dug out one of each kind of disk before he tucked the rest of them into his pack so that they wouldn't get lost. Haruo would then spend the next fifteen minutes trying to figure out just how much chakra it took to hold the metal disk to his forehead without pushing too much chakra into it (which made it fly off his face) or too little (which let it slip down his nose).

It was a rather exhausting exercise when compared to the Leaf Concentration exercise due to the way the metal absorbed his chakra. He managed to soak himself near the end of the fifteen minute period when he accidentally pushed out water natured chakra instead of neutral chakra into the chakra metal. The little disk had even continued to draw moisture from the air even after he'd stopped channeling chakra into it; something that would prove rather useful in the future when their team took missions that would see them traveling through a desert or other arid environment.

The fifteen minutes he spent trying to hold the glass disk to his forehead after that proved even harder. Not only did he have to work to extend his chakra out far enough to wrap around the entire disk, he had to make certain the chakra wrapping the disk was spread out evenly so that the weight of the disk didn't allow it to slip or pop out from a 'weak' spot where the chakra was thinnest. Needless to say, Haruo spent more time chasing after the flying disk of glass than he did holding said piece of glass to his forehead.

"That's good enough, Haruo-kun; you can spend a half an hour on that exercise once every morning and again every afternoon until you are released from your medical restrictions. Once Tokage releases you for full duty, I will test your mastery of the exercise with both types of disks and make adjustments to your training schedule as necessary. For now, go ahead and put the disks away so you can start on the second exercise that Kuma gave you."

"Hai, Bunshin-sensei," Haruo replied as he tucked both disks into his pocket as he reached for the scroll his father had created for him so he could read through the instructions for the second exercise again.

_Step 1; gather a handful of dirt or sand.  
Step 2; saturate the handful of dirt with earth natured chakra.  
Step 3; once the dirt is fully saturated, compress the handful of dirt down  
to the size and shape of a marble using only your chakra.  
Step 4; gradually increase the amount of dirt used in first three steps until  
the size of the ball formed is roughly two inches in diameter.  
Step 5; once the sphere shape has been mastered, start compressing the  
dirt into other shapes; such as squares, rectangles, and triangles.  
Step 6; continue to increase the amount of dirt used until the constructs  
created are roughly equal to one cubic foot._

_Mastery of the exercise will be achieved when each item created is formed  
of dense rock (or glass if you are using sand) that cannot be damaged by  
most standard shinobi weapons._

"Something wrong, green-eyes?"

"The second exercise that sensei-nii gave me sounds more like half a jutsu than it does a proper exercise," Haruo answered as he frowned at the scroll. "I thought it was supposed to be a chakra building exercise because sensei-nii told me I have to at least double the size of my current reserves before he'll allow me to use the Kage Bunshin again."

"Most chakra building and chakra control exercises are used as the basis for jutsu or as supplemental skills; take the Tree Climbing exercise for example," the clone explained. "The exercise forces you to learn how to push the chakra out of the soles of your feet and to regulate the amount of chakra you are pushing out in order to maintain a steady flow of chakra to hold you in place so you can walk up the tree. That skill can then be transferred to wall walking. On top of that, once you've attained mastery of the exercise, it becomes a chakra building exercise as each time you use it you are forced to expend a steady amount of chakra for as long as you are using it without actually thinking about it as you do it."

"The Earth Pressing exercise is somewhat similar. The base exercise is designed to help increase your chakra reserves because you have to gradually increase the amount of chakra you pour into the dirt each time you add more dirt to the exercise. On top of that, it forces you to work on your chakra control because you have to use your chakra to shape the dirt as you compress it. And it also helps improve the level of control a person has over earth manipulation because it calls for earth natured chakra to be used."

"Does that mean it won't work if you saturate the dirt with neutral chakra?" Haruo asked as he recalled the low level doton jutsu (an unnamed scooping technique that could be used to plant seeds or dig a small latrine) that Kuma taught him and Naruto during the last year hadn't required the use of earth natured chakra to use; though earth natured chakra could be used to make that jutsu and others like it more effective.

"That's mostly correct; do you think you can tell me what would happen if you used neutral chakra instead of earth natured chakra for the exercise?"

"The things made would be weaker because neutral chakra is not as effective at manipulating dirt as earth natured chakra is just like doton jutsu are weaker when created with neutral chakra."

"Very good. Now, do you think you can come up with one practical use for the results of the Earth Pressing Exercise that Kuma gave you to learn?"

Haruo thought about the question before he answered, "It could be used to make shields that are hard to break."

"Correct. The exercise can also be applied to improving existing earth jutsu or used to create weapons if you've been disarmed by an enemy in an environment where you are surrounded by dirt or rocks. Did you have any other questions about the exercise?"

"No, Bunshin-sensei."

"Then go ahead and spend the next twenty minutes practicing."

The exercise was by far the most difficult chakra exercise he'd been taught to date. Imbuing a handful of dirt with earth natured chakra was fairly easy since he was used to using his chakra to enhance his garden. Compressing the handful of dirt and chakra down the size of a marble using just his chakra was far harder than it sounded though. It was even harder to form a perfect sphere out of the resulting mess. In some ways, it was rather similar to trying to hold the glass disk on his forehead by enveloping the disk with his chakra; if the chakra pushing down and in on the clump of dirt in his hand was not spread evenly, it would mash the dirt all out of shape.

A few times, the dirt even exploded all over him instead of compressing down into a marble and by the time his twenty minutes of practice were over, Haruo looked like he'd been swimming through dirt. The nine year old didn't mind though; he rather liked playing in the dirt and he thought the little dirt explosions would make for a great prank or a good distraction if he could make them big enough. The training also helped to distract him from his growing discomfort of being separated from Naruto for so long.

"Alright, time's up, Haruo-kun," Kakashi's clone stated after the most recent failure. "You can continue practicing that one during future training sessions while your teammates are sparring for the next two weeks. For now, I think it's best that you take a break from chakra intensive exercises in order to avoid exhausting yourself. While you are resting, I want you to list the names of all five Great Shinobi Nations, their hidden villages, the title of their ruling Kage, the names of their current Kage, the names of their Daimyou, and the names of the capital cities where their Daimyou reside."

Haruo's answer was briefly delayed by a wailing screech of, "_My hair!_" that cut through the entire village in what he recognized as Sakura's voice and Haruo let out a soft, satisfied snicker before he began listing the requested information, "The first nation is Hi no Kuni, the hidden village is Konohagakure no Sato, Konoha is ruled by the Hokage, and the current Hokage is the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. The Daimyou of Hi no Kuni is…"

After Haruo had provided the requested information for all five of the Great Shinobi Nations, he was required to provide similar information for what was considered the Lesser Shinobi Nations before continuing on to those nations that did not have a hidden village within their borders. Next, he was asked to list the distances and travel times between each of the various hidden villages, nations, and important cities (using both shinobi and civilian travel speed). He was then required to list those nations that Konoha had alliances with, the nations that Konoha had rocky relations with, and those that were considered outright enemies of Konoha.

Once he'd finished rattling off that information, Kakashi's clone had him give a verbal recitation of every single jutsu he had been taught to date and a complete list of his other skills. Haruo initially omitted any mention of those ninjutsu that were associated with his Mokuton right up until the clone flat out told him that he was aware of Haruo's Kekkei Genkai. He would then be required to give a demonstration of those skills and jutsu that would not stress his injuries bar the ones that could only be performed in certain places or on certain items (such as lock picking).

Haruo wasn't certain why Kakashi was pretending that he didn't know what he was capable of doing but he willingly played along for the same reason why he told Naruto they should pretend they didn't know Kakashi was Inu. It was also kind of funny to see the older shinobi trying so hard to pretend that he had not met Haruo until he'd collected Team Seven from the Academy yesterday. The little Mokuton user couldn't wait to tell Naruto about the whole thing once they were finished for the day.

The last thing the clone had him do as part of his 'assessment test' was to state five skills or techniques that he was interested in learning. After thinking about it for a couple of minutes, Haruo's answer was; Kuchiyose no Jutsu (due to his close association with the toads and other summonses), the Shunshin no Jutsu (because he liked traveling fast), Meisai Gakure no Jutsu (because turning invisible was always cool), Iryojutsu (because Naruto was accident prone), and bird calls (because he liked the idea of 'talking' to the birds).

Haruo would then spend twenty minutes learning how to 'throw' his chakra out in an invisible cloud around him in order to sense hidden chakra signatures (using the instructions on the scroll Kuma had written for him). The idea was to spread his chakra as thin and as wide as possible to allow the jutsu to cover as much ground as possible while also minimizing the chances that someone else would sense his chakra brushing up against them. The young wizard could already sense chakra signatures of those who were within fifteen feet of him but that was only if they weren't suppressing their chakra signatures; something that the new jutsu would allow him to sense.

Additionally, shinobi were easier for him to sense than civilians and those shinobi with larger than average chakra reserves were even easier to sense. Naruto usually stood out like a sore thumb in Haruo's senses (so long as he was paying attention) because his reserves were so large. That wasn't always a good thing though since Naruto's chakra signature often drowned out the signatures of anyone else unless Haruo concentrated on picking them out from under Naruto's chakra. A side benefit to picking out the different signatures from underneath Naruto's was that Haruo had learned to detect individual signatures and once he had felt a person's chakra signature a couple of times, he could pick them out from a crowd blindfolded if he needed to.

He could have used that ability to prove that Kakashi was Inu but Kakashi (and his clone) was suppressing his chakra either out of habit or on purpose to avoid Haruo recognizing him that way. Inu had often suppressed his chakra around Haruo as well but he'd flared his chakra within range of Haruo's limited sensory skills often enough over the years for the green-eyed boy to memorize his signature. The same could be said of Kuma, Neko, Karasu, Yagi, and Taka's signatures.

Haruo had not bothered to use that ability to memorize the signatures of his classmates at the Academy though; there had been far too many children. He could, however, still pick their chakra out from a crowd since he'd inevitably come into contact with each of their signatures at some point during the many chakra lessons he'd been required to sit through over the past four years. That was something that would allow him to immediately take note of any imposters using the faces of his former peers unless the imposter was also someone Haruo had encountered previously.

Once his twenty minutes of practice was over, Kakashi's clone instructed Haruo to practice the technique once a day before he told him to rejoin the rest of his team in the main field of the training ground. The clone then dispelled in a burst of smoke; leaving Haruo alone in the woods. The nine year old let out weary sigh before he grabbed his pack and begun trudging back to the entrance of the training ground.

As tired as Haruo felt after spending an exhausting three and a half hours training and being grilled by Kakashi's clone, he still had more than enough energy to appreciate the bedraggled appearances of Sakura and Sasuke when he stepped out of the trees.

Sasuke looked like he'd bathed in pink paint before he'd gone for a swim in a vat of purple and green glitter. His hair had been slicked down by a heavy coat of thick mud. From the rather ragged and lumpy appearance of his clothes, he'd showered in the mud before he'd taken the bath in pink paint. Sakura looked even worse. Her hair was a snarled mess of sap and dead leaves that had been speckled with confetti before she'd gotten hit on the right side with an explosion of lime green paint. That wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that her left side had been hit with murky brown paint.

She looked rather like a hairball that some poor unfortunate cat had hacked up.

And then she turned around and Haruo got a good look at her back which was covered with more sap, layers of bark, leaves, twigs, small rocks, and molted feathers. From the back, she looked like something had tried to bury her or maybe dragged her through miles of forest feet first.

Haruo's lips twitched upwards in vindictive amusement as he eyed the masterpiece of humiliation that had been created by the pranking genius of his best friend. The nine year old quickly schooled his face when their sensei drew attention to his presence and both bedraggled Genin turned to see who Kakashi was talking to.

"I see you managed to survive your test by the skin of your teeth," Kakashi quipped as the shifting of his cloth face mask revealed the fact that he was smiling or smirking beneath the mask while Haruo wearily nodded in agreement. "My clone should have asked before it dispelled but since it didn't I will; are you in any pain green-eyes?"

"A little; it's almost time for me to take the next dose of medicine," Haruo replied after taking a moment to flex the muscles of his right arm and shoulder to test the amount of pain his injuries were currently causing him. "Mostly I'm just tired. The exercises that sensei-nii…"

"Urgh! What are you, two? That's not a proper way to address anyone!" Sakura growled in obvious irritation for the improper use of honorifics now that she finally paid attention to Haruo's use of the title he'd assigned to Kuma when he was still three years old.

Haruo shot the girl a flat look that said he didn't care what she thought before he continued, "Sensei-nii's exercises were a lot harder than I thought they would be and I wasted a lot of chakra trying to figure them out. Not being able to use my right arm didn't help."

"Well, I'm glad you made it through the morning unscathed despite the impromptu showers you took," Kakashi replied in response to Haruo's answer as he reached out to run a finger through the dirt and mud clinging to Haruo's face from his earlier dousing and subsequent dirt explosions. "Go ahead and clean yourself up a bit before you take your medicine and eat your lunch."

"Hai, sensei," Haruo replied before he used a concentrated pulse of chakra to repel the dust and mud clinging to him; the dirt sloughing off of his body and clothes in a wave from head to toe in mimicry of a snake shedding its skin (a trick that would work on most everything but his blood due to the magic that flowed through his veins).

When he turned around to dig his medicine and his bento out of his pack, Haruo wore a smug smirk in response to the envious glares that both Sasuke and Sakura had given him after seeing him 'clean up' so easily.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Iryojutsu – medical techniques  
Kinobori no Waza – Tree climbing  
Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Summoning Technique  
Meisai Gakure no Jutsu – Camouflage Concealment Technique  
Shunshin no Jutsu – Body Flicker Technique

* * *

**AN:** _All I can say is that Haruo is a right little snot when he wants to be. And maybe that I have far too much fun setting up pranks for this story. Anyway, we've just been given a small look at Haruo's training to give everyone an idea of where he stands skill-wise with Naruto being somewhere in the same ball park and saw a bit of his attitude coming out in his dealings with Sasuke and Sakura. ~ Jenn_

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	12. Amusing Antics

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Amusing Antics

_December 19, 1989, 10:36 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Twenty-eight year old Hatake Kakashi (aka Sharingan no Kakashi, Kopi Ninja no Kakashi, genius son of the Konoha no Shiroi Kiba, former ANBU Operative Inu-teichou, and newly assigned Jounin sensei to Team Seven) smothered a snort of amusement as he watched Tenzou's son showing off. The little gaki took perverse enjoyment in the abject humiliation of others; though, to be fair, he didn't go out of his way to prank anyone he didn't feel deserved it for some reason.

And Haruo's teammates had made a pretty poor impression on both Haruo and Naruto throughout their four years at the Academy and during their first team meeting just yesterday.

Still, he couldn't encourage the two pranksters to humiliate their teammates every time they turned around since it would only make the chances of the four of them ever working together as a team drop even lower than they already were. That didn't mean he couldn't make note of each incident in order to share them with Tenzou and the rest of his former squad later. The others would certainly appreciate the knowledge that their former charges were still putting all of the practical lessons that they'd given them to good use.

Thinking of those supplemental lessons had a slight frown pulling at the corners of Kakashi's mouth from under his mask as he considered the rather large gap (skill wise) that separated Naruto and Haruo from Sasuke and Sakura. The two troublemakers should not have been that far ahead of their peers. Granted, some of the things that Kakashi's squad had taught the boys were more than a little above their age level at the time they had been taught those skills (such as the Tree Climbing exercise and the ANBU Sign Code) but there was so much more that they had taught them that the others should have learned while still in the Academy.

Things like the little ember jutsu to start fires or light torches, using chakra pulses to repulse dirt and water from their skin and clothes, or using their chakra to enhance their body in order to increase their speed and strength.

The result of those 'missed' lessons meant that Naruto and Haruo were so far above Sakura and Sasuke that it wasn't even funny. His two former charges were still fresh and mostly inexperienced Genin and they still had a lot to work on but outside of taijutsu, throwing skills, and book knowledge, their teammates might as well have been first year Academy students instead of newly graduated Genin. Kakashi's frown deepened as he wondered if Mizuki had been sabotaging more than just Naruto's grades.

A few seconds later, he set that thought aside to explore later so he could focus on his students as he watched Naruto breeze through the finish line looking as fresh as he had at the end of his first run through the obstacle course.

Like his fellow twelve year olds, Naruto had been caught up in a couple of traps. Though, unlike his teammates, the blond didn't look like he had gotten caught in an explosion while inside of a craft store. In fact, he only looked like he'd been training hard instead being put through hell on earth; his track suit was a little singed and had few tears where a kunai or two had gotten through his guard, his hair was flaked with dried mud (as was his clothes), and he had a few smears of blood here and there.

Something that had obviously annoyed both Sakura and Sasuke based upon the glares and scowls that the two of them had constantly sent Naruto's way throughout the course of the morning.

Kakashi let out an inaudible sigh as he realized just how much work it was going to take to get the four Genin to work as a team _and_ catch Sasuke and Sakura up to Naruto and Haruo's level. He would also have to put up with a bored and irritated Haruo for two weeks while the kid's injuries fully healed. The Jounin was not looking forward to dealing with an unhappy nine year old; Haruo was usually a really sweat kid but heaven help you if you caught him when he was in one of his 'moods'.

The gaki could be a right monster when he felt the need to share his misery with others.

The only one that had immunity from Haruo's temper was Naruto.

And even his immunity wouldn't save him if the blond did something monumentally stupid to set Haruo off.

Kakashi had witnessed Haruo getting angry with Naruto a total of three times. The first time had been when Naruto tried to push Haruo away the moment people began glaring at the green-eyed boy due to his association with Naruto. The second time had been when Haruo had found Naruto attacking a young sapling with a kunai shortly after they'd received their first training weapons. And the third time had taken place just a few days earlier when Naruto had accidentally abandoned Haruo for several hours after he [Kakashi] had caught sight of an obviously upset Haruo trudging home alone and had followed him to make certain he made it; staying only long enough to witness the somewhat volatile reunion.

Each time, Haruo's anger had exploded in a sharp burst of angry words coupled with a swift kick. The younger boy never stayed angry at Naruto for long though; his anger fleeing the moment Naruto apologized and promised to never again do whatever it was that had gotten Haruo mad.

Naruto, on the other hand, had not yet had a reason to be angry at Haruo. Oh, the blond had gotten frustrated with the younger boy on more than one occasion but Naruto treasured their friendship too much to actually yell at or hit Haruo in anger. Kakashi suspected that Naruto was terrified that Haruo would stop being his friend if that happened. Or it was possible that Naruto was scared that doing so would make him no different than the bullies that had picked on the two of them through the years.

That didn't stop him from playfully slapping the younger boy upside the head if he did something stupid to earn it (something that had frequently happened when they'd been younger). Nor did it prevent the two of them from sparring against one another properly; to do so would have been an insult to both their friendship and their skills and do them both more harm than good (a fact Kuma had been very quick to explain to both boys when they first started learning taijutsu).

The sound of Naruto's voice pulled Kakashi out of his musings as the blond bounded over to his green-eyed friend with the energy of a child on a sugar rush, "Haruo!"

"No tackling of injured teammates allowed," Kakashi instructed sternly as he snagged hold of the blond by the back of the jacket when he rushed passed him in his effort to check on the younger boy.

"No manhandling of my best friend is allowed, sensei," Haruo countered in a serious tone that sounded adorable rather than intimidating as an empty medication vial struck the center of Kakashi's forehead with a sharp ping when it connected with the hitai-ate he was wearing.

"I wasn't going to tackle him!" Naruto protested as the jacket in Kakashi's hand suddenly lost a considerable amount of mass and weight when Naruto slipped free of the bulky garment instead of trying to break Kakashi's hold.

"I wasn't going to take any chances, Whiskers-chan; his collar bone is in a fragile enough state right now and further injury could see the bone snapping before it heals properly," Kakashi stated and the Jounin noticed the little kunoichi on his team going pale beneath the paint and filth that clung to her. _Good_, the twenty-eight year old thought to himself. _She needs to learn how to be more attentive to details and to reflect on the consequences of her actions __**before**__ she carries them out._

Kakashi then dumped Naruto's blue and orange jacket over his head as he pulled a clip board from a hidden storage seal on the bottom hem of his flak jacket; making it look like he'd pulled the clipboard from thin air. Sakura and Sasuke both looked properly impressed by the little trick but Haruo and Naruto hadn't even been paying attention and Kakashi nearly pouted over being partially ignored. Pushing the urge aside, Kakashi cleared his throat in order to catch the attention of the youngest two members of the team (both Sakura and Sasuke's birthday fell earlier in the year than Naruto's).

"Alright, listen up; I have the results of this mornings assessments in my hand," Kakashi announced the moment Naruto sat down beside Haruo. "Out of the eight laps run through the obstacle course; Naruto holds the records for running the course in the least amount of time and for triggering or getting caught in the fewest number of traps, Sasuke holds the record for the most targets hit and the highest number of consecutive bull's eyes, and Sakura had the worst time over all, got caught in or triggered the most traps, and only completed five out of the eight laps."

Kakashi paused for a moment and took in the pleased expression on Naruto's face before he caught sight of the dark glower on Sasuke's face as he seethed in Naruto's direction. The Jounin then felt a spike of foreboding as he watched Sasuke's glare shift from Naruto to Haruo. It looked like he was going to have to stage an intervention sooner rather than later lest Sasuke's thirst for revenge lead him to deflect from the village in search of power.

Preferably before Naruto's newly awakened temper had the blond tearing Sasuke apart with chains for threatening or harming the younger boy. And before Haruo unleashed his temper on the gaki and publicly humiliated him to an extent that Haruo's magic would be impossible to hide any longer.

Pushing those observation aside for the moment, Kakashi cleared his throat and continued, "All four of you also have quite a few areas that you will need to work on over the eight weeks. Sakura; you have the poorest physical condition out of everyone on the team, your physical stamina is deplorable, your chakra reserves are quite pitiful because you've not trained your body anywhere near as much as you've trained your mind, and you lack situational awareness as you could have avoided more than half of the traps you were caught up in if you'd just paid attention to where you were going."

"Sasuke; you also need to work on increasing your physical stamina as while you completed all eight laps, the time it took you to complete each lap increased each time you set foot on the course. On top of that, you spent far too much time searching out the targets and lining up your shots, let any missed shots or tripped traps break your concentrations when you allowed yourself to grow angry, and during the group laps, you were far too busy trying to trip up Naruto instead of running through the course or helping him as you were instructed to do on the sixth lap."

"Naruto; you need to work on your throwing accuracy, pacing yourself instead of looking to outdo your teammates, and you need to work on your chakra control as you wasted chakra every single time you used a jutsu. You also need to work on keeping that temper of yours in line instead of picking fights or reacting to something someone else says. I would also suggest working on your physical coordination as there were times when you looked more like a drunk staggering along in the dark rather than a shinobi running an obstacle course."

"In order to get everyone up to snuff, we're going to…" Kakashi started to explain before he was cut off by Sakura.

"Sensei, you didn't tell Haruo was he was doing wrong."

"Leave Haruo alone," Naruto growled as he shot Sakura a venomous glare.

"Enough!" Kakashi ordered before a fight could break out. "Naruto, you need to settle down and stop getting angry over every little thing." Naruto scowled, petulantly crossed his arms, and turned his back on Sakura while Sakura threw a smug little grin at Naruto and Haruo. "Sakura; do not interrupt me like that again. I will not tolerate insubordination from any of you. I also won't tolerate you looking to cut your teammates down."

"Nor will I allow any of you to bully each other and that includes gloating when one of your teammates gets in trouble. For better or for worse, the four of you are a team and if you have a problem with that, then I can have you stripped of your hitai-ate and sent back to the Academy for remedial training. You may think I'm being harsh but fighting with one another could well see one or more of your teammates killed during a mission because you were so busy putting your teammate down that you failed to pay attention to your surroundings."

"The same goes for showing off during a mission. I will tell you right now, I had better not see any of you showboating when engaging an enemy or I'll have you kicked out of the shinobi force so fast your head will spin; as a team there is no need for you to 'one up' your teammates since we are all on the same side. Understood?" Kakashi all but growled in his captain's voice as he sternly met each Genin's gaze and all four of them were very quick to nod. The ex-ANBU captain relaxed a bit before he added, "And, for the record, green-eyes is well aware of what he needs to work on for the time being as I will not be able to give him a physical assessment until after his injuries have healed."

"Now, as I was saying before I got side tracked; in order to get everyone up to snuff, we're going to be spending the next two weeks doing nothing but training. From sunrise to sunset I am going to run you into the ground in order to eek out every ounce of improvement that I can from your weak little bodies. If, and I do mean _if_, all of you show an acceptable amount of improvement at the end of those two weeks, I will _think_ about getting you your first mission. That means that all four of you had best put in a significant amount of effort into your training."

"Any questions? No? Then I will give the four of you an hour to eat lunch before I set the three of you –" Here Kakashi paused for a brief moment as he pointed to his three uninjured Genin before continuing. "– to sparring both against each other and against me so that I can get an idea of your current taijutsu levels." He then singled out Haruo to give him his instructions. "And you are going to rest for the remainder of the afternoon unless you want Tokage to carry through on his threat to tie you to a hospital bed for a month."

"So mean," Haruo muttered under his breath as he pouted at Kakashi.

"Stop complaining and just finish your lunch, green eyes," Kakashi retorted while he suppressed his amusement over the nine your old's antics as he handed a bento box to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Ano, I didn't get a lunch, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura timidly pointed out when Kakashi picked up the remaining two bento (one of which was his and the other an extra meal since Haruo had brought lunch with him).

"No I didn't, pinky; your punishment for having the worst time is to go without lunch."

Sakura's face fell and her stomach let out a loud growl in response to Kakashi's statement; the girl obviously had taken his suggestion to heart the previous afternoon and forewent breakfast. Kakashi was pretty certain that Sasuke had also skipped breakfast since he was already wolfing down his food. The other two most likely ignored him though since they did not appear any where near as hungry as the other two; though, in Haruo's case, part of it was probably his stomach giving him grief over the medications he was taking for his injuries.

Kakashi Shunshined into the trees at that point and picked a likely looking tree where he could keep an eye on the four Genin without them noticing him while he ate lunch. He'd barely settled back against the trunk of the tree before he had company in the form of a masked Tenzou. His appearance didn't shock Kakashi in the least and he silently handed the extra bento over. He knew that the younger man had spent the entire morning watching his son from a distance; the Tokubetsu Jounin had been fluttering about the boy like a mother hen ever since Haruo had been injured.

"Haruno-chan is going to faint soon," Kuma predicted as he accepted the boxed meal and grew a new branch on the tree Kakashi was sitting in so that he could sit beside him.

"The only question is whether or not she remains conscious for her first spar," Kakashi agreed as he pulled out a book and propped it in front of his face with one hand so he could pull his mask down and eat without revealing his face. "I know for a fact that she didn't eat supper last night and based on how weak she is now, it's obvious that she didn't eat breakfast either."

"Why withhold her lunch as well, then?"

"To teach her a lesson; she needs to know that skipping meals is going to have a negative impact on her health and physical fitness. The last thing I need is for her to pass out from a lack of proper nutrition while we're in the middle of a mission."

"I don't think the lesson is going to stick; Naruto just gave the store bought bento you gave him to her because Haruo probably packed a large enough bento for the two of them to share."

Kakashi pulled his mask up, tucked away his book, and set his half finished lunch down on the branch before he Shunshined back to the four Genin just as Sakura placed the first bite in her mouth. He then put up a subtle genjutsu that made it look like the sky was clouding over with thick clouds as he loomed over the group of preteens as he asked, "I thought I made it clear that Sakura was to go without lunch?"

"Haruo and I packed a large lunch to bring with us last night and we didn't want to waist the food you gave me and she's going to need to eat something if we're going to spar later," Naruto blithely stated after swallowing the food he had in his mouth.

"And you said we're a team and if we're stuck as a team, then it is our duty to see that our teammates are taken care of; even if is just saving them from their own stupidity because they think they need to go on a diet just because they think they _might_ gain a few pounds," Haruo added matter-of-factly while Sakura turned red both from embarrassment and anger at the implied criticism of her eating habits.

"Haruo, while you might have a valid point, you could have worded it differently," Kakashi admonished in order to not play favorites with any of his Genin. "I meant what I said when I told you that I will not tolerate you bullying each other and that includes sniping one another any time an opportunity arises. And Sakura, you will cease whatever weight-loss diet you are currently on or you will turn in your hitai-ate; I will not be responsible for your death on our first mission because your body is too weak from half starving yourself. You should have been taught the importance of a healthy, balanced diet while you were in the Academy."

"Gomen, sensei," Haruo contritely replied though Kakashi knew it would be a while yet before the younger boy played nice with those teammates not named Naruto.

"Hai, sensei," Sakura murmured with more than a little embarrassment a heartbeat after Haruo's reply.

Kakashi hummed an acknowledgement before he put Sasuke on the spot as he demanded, "What do you think of your teammates going against my orders, Sasuke?"

"You never actually said we couldn't share our food with Sakura; only that you wouldn't give her a lunch of her own due to how much time it took her to get through the obstacle course. And you gave the bento to Naruto who then gave it to Sakura."

"I see. Sakura, what about you? Why did you break the punishment I set for you?"

"I didn't want to but they insisted and I am a little hungry."

"So, that's how it's going to be, is it?" Kakashi rhetorically inquired as he ran his eye over all four Genin. "There's only one thing I can say in response to that." The four Genin exchanged confused and worried looks with each other before they returned their attention to the Jounin in order to hear their punishment. "Congratulations, the four of you have just committed your first act of teamwork."

"_We're doomed, Naruto; completely and utterly doomed,_" Haruo deadpanned in English. "_Not only do we have the worst teammates ever but our new teacher is completely bonkers._"

"Eh? I didn't understand a single word he just said," Sakura gasped in bewilderment as she whipped her head around to stare at Haruo; apparently the girl had never paid attention whenever the two boys spoke to each other in English during lessons at the Academy.

Kakashi just knew that the two pranksters were going to use their knowledge of a second language to torment the pink haired kunoichi. He could see it in their eyes as they glanced at one another. That made the Jounin wonder if he should reveal the fact that he understood them or not. He was trying not to give them too many clues as to his identity as Inu because he couldn't afford for his ANBU persona to become common knowledge despite the fact that he had retired from ANBU. And he'd already made a mistake by calling Naruto 'whiskers' several times but they'd thankfully ignored that.

"_Well, you were the one that told me to give her the extra bento,_" Naruto quipped in return while Kakashi was pondering how to nip their mischief in the bud without giving himself away.

"_Well, yeah, I didn't want one of us being stuck hauling her to the hospital because she was dumb enough to starve herself. Besides, listening to her whimper and whine while her stomach growled as we ate in front of her would have been like kicking a starving puppy. And it's far more fun to torment the healthy in any case._"

"_True,_" Naruto agreed with a nod before he returned his attention to his food.

Kakashi mentally snorted and let their antics slide for now; he could address the issue with the two of them when their teammates weren't around to see or hear. There was also the fact that he knew the four of them would have to work out most of their issues with one another themselves because his stepping in all the time would only breed resentment. That didn't mean he was going to let them snipe at each other during training exercises and missions though; he just wasn't going to ride their asses constantly to force them to be nice to each other.

"Are they insane, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura demanded nervously as she inched away from the two younger boys; her voice drawing Kakashi out of his musings. "It's like they're speaking nonsense that only they understand."

"No, they're not insane; they're merely speaking in a different language," Kakashi assured the kunoichi. "In any case, the four of you'd best finish your lunches as you're wasting time and if you wait until the last minute to eat, you're just going to throw it all back up when you start sparring."

Kakashi then returned to the trees so that he could finish his lunch. He was unsurprised to find that Kuma was still seated on the extra branch he'd grown. Though he did wonder why Kasai was giving the man so much time off.

"So, what excuse did they use?" Kuma inquired the moment Kakashi had settled back into place.

"Didn't want to waste the food, a smidgen of teamwork, and I technically never said they couldn't share," Kakashi replied as he fished his book back out of his utility pouch and then dug back into his bento. "Haruo is determined to hold a grudge against Sakura though and I can predict at least another month of humiliating pranks disguised as training traps in her future."

"Somehow I'm not surprised that those two managed to add a few additions to the obstacle course. They must have spent hours looking for loopholes in the promise that I dragged from them. Kind of makes me wonder and worry about what else they will come up with in the future."

"There's no need for you to worry too much; I fully plan to keep the two of them too busy and far too tired to plot and plan on their free time."

"Yeah, good luck with that."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I look forward to hearing about each and every unsuccessful attempt you make."

"Don't you have a mission or something to complete?" Kakashi asked in mild annoyance over having his bubble burst by Tenzou's pessimism.

"Actually, I'm on assignment right now," Kuma replied with more than a hint of amusement. "Kasai assigned me to watch over your newly formed team for the next two months in order to ensure that there aren't going to be any problems with putting those three particular boys on the same team."

"Are you going to spend all of your time watching from the trees or are you going to take this opportunity to work with Haruo while you still can?"

"And how would you explain my presence to the rest of your team?"

"I wouldn't have to; I'll just continue to have Haruo train in the trees with a shadow clone while I'm putting the rest of his teammates through the wringer until Tokage releases him from his restrictions. If one of the others questions it, I will merely state that his training is potentially dangerous to bystanders while he is still in the learning stages; which it technically is. That would give you the privacy you need to work with him and allow me to keep track of his progress at the same time on top of getting him used to putting more then ten feet of separation between him and Naruto."

"If I do that, then it sort of defeats the purpose of observing your entire team."

"So set a Moku Bunshin to watch the other three while you are working with Haruo."

"Why are you so obsessed with me training Haruo all of a sudden?"

"Because I'd rather he get any temper tantrums he's going to have over learning the truth about who you are to him out of the way as early as possible before I start taking him on missions where his grumpiness might draw the wrong kind of attention if he triggers his other 'bloodline' in front of witnesses. In order for that to happen, he has to decide just how he feels about your relationship to him and the best way for that to happen is for you to spend time alone with him."

"I'll think about it," Kuma replied before he disappeared into the tree; leaving behind his dirty bento box.

Kakashi knew that he'd irritated the younger man but he also knew that Tenzou would agree to train Haruo; the older Mokuton user doted on his son and would do whatever was necessary to protect the child. _Even threaten his captain with bodily harm,_ Kakashi mused silently to himself as he thought back to the day when he first learned that Haruo was Tenzou's son and the threats the younger man had leveled his way in regards to what he would and would not allow Kakashi to do in his son's presence.

Tenzou's threats were part of the reason why Kakashi wasn't more than ten or fifteen minutes late for team meetings and why he won't read his Icha-Icha books in front of the children. Well, that and because he didn't want his precious books to end up on the wrong side of a prank again; even if his book had only technically been collateral damage the one time he'd been doused in sap while slipping into Naruto's room at the orphanage to check on the boys one night. Kakashi still hadn't figured out where the two brats kept getting sap in such large quantities; normal trees didn't 'bleed' that much.

Shaking away the mysteries of the only two existing members of Konoha's Prankster Association (and Konoha's most troublesome pranksters, at that), Kakashi used a water jutsu to clean out the two empty bento containers before he sealed them into an empty storage scroll. He then tucked away his book (slipping it back into the special storage seal he'd made just to keep it safe from future pranks) and headed back to the clearing where his four students were waiting.

Amusement made his lips twitch upwards when his eyes landed on a napping Haruo; the little Mokuton user curled up in a ball on his left side like a kitten.

_Watching him sleep; you'd never know the little one was the most dangerous student on my team,_ Kakashi thought to himself. _If asked, most people would name Naruto (for the Kyuubi he holds) or Sasuke (for his Sharingan) as the most dangerous child in all of Konoha. Those that know of Naruto's Uzumaki heritage and the fact that he has unlocked his clan's feared temper and chains would be quick to tell you that he's the most dangerous child in the world. And all of those people would be wrong._

_Haruo may be three years younger than Naruto and at first glance he might appear far too delicate and naïve to be a threat but his dual heritage gives him the means to subdue even the Kyuubi without needing to resort to sealing it away or hypnotizing it with a high level Sharingan. On top of that, his close friendship with Naruto actually allows Haruo to keep Naruto's Uzumaki heritage in check because Naruto would never intentionally harm Haruo. That doesn't even touch on the unpredictable nature of his mahou._

Kakashi forced himself to suppress a shudder as he recalled the way Haruo had set Mizuki on fire in the blink of an eye during the incident with the scroll. Sure, plenty of other shinobi (himself included) had at some point attempted to light an enemy on fire with a katon jutsu but those jutsu used were usually hot enough to make the death quick and relatively painless if they actually hit. Those that weren't, were usually not strong enough to cause any serious permanent damage outside of leaving behind a few scars (not counting those jutsu that were created used by sadistic shinobi that sought to cause their victims and enemies pain).

Haruo's magical fire had done a considerable amount of damage to Mizuki's arms and chest before the traitor had managed to put the flames out. And that was when the nine year old had been suffering from a moderate case of chakra exhaustion and blood loss. The twenty-eight year old wasn't certain if he really wanted to see what happened if someone truly hurt Naruto with the intention of killing him and Haruo truly gave into his temper while in perfect health.

The Jounin's eyes then cut towards the broodiest member of his team, one Uchiha Sasuke. The boy was the lone survivor of the Uchiha Massacre; if you didn't count Uchiha Itachi – who'd been the one to kill the rest of his clan. The moody little loner was talented, Kakashi would give him that, but he was also rather self-centered, anti-social, fixated on getting revenge for the murder of his family, and obsessed with power.

_How will you handle the knowledge that two of your teammates are stronger than you, Sasuke?_ Kakashi asked himself as he noted the disdainful sneer that Sasuke was currently directing towards Naruto and Haruo. _What will you do when you learn that the power with which they were born or burdened with upon their birth is forever out of your grasp? Which path will you walk when the time comes for you to make your choice between what is right and what is easy?_

Shoving his ruminations aside, Kakashi clapped his hands together just loud enough to make the three who were awake jump and whip around in surprise; it was always so much fun seeing the little kiddies all twitchy and extra jumpy. A smirk briefly pulled the fabric of his mask tight against his skin before he relaxed the muscles in his face so as not to let his students know just how much he enjoyed scaring the piss out of them.

"Haruo will be extra grumpy if you wake him up while he's still exhausted," Naruto hissed in warning as he scowled at Kakashi.

"Maa, maa; I have no plans to wake him up when I was the one that told him to take a nap in the first place," Kakashi assured the blond. "And instead of worrying about sleeping beauty there, you should be getting ready for your taijutsu assessment. So, which one of you would like to volunteer to spar against me first?"

"I'll go!" Naruto offered as he jumped to his feet; his sapphire eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Kakashi chuckled under his breath as he nodded an acknowledgement before he beckoned Naruto to move a little further away from his teammates. Naruto took the time to create a couple of Kage Bunshin to keep an eye on Haruo before he eagerly bounded over to join Kakashi. A quick run down of the rules (which were basically non-existent bar the banning of ninjutsu and shurikenjutsu – lest their teammates get caught in the crossfire).

The next two hours would see all three older Genin steadily growing wearier, even the ever energetic Naruto, as they fought against one another and Kakashi countless times. By the time Kakashi dismissed the group for the day, they were completely dead on their feet. Just before he sent them on their way home, Kakashi told them to meet him in the same place at the same time first thing tomorrow morning so they could start training.

The Jounin then shooed Naruto away from the still sleeping Haruo before he carefully scooped the sleeping child from the ground and carried him home; allowing Naruto to lead the way so as to pretend that he didn't already know where they lived. They would be met outside the door by Tokage (to check on Haruo's injuries), Kuma (to mother his son), and one of the clones that had helped Kakashi keep track of each Genin's obstacle course results (conveniently henged into Inu for a little misdirection).

Kakashi completely missed the smug smirk that Naruto was wearing when he caught sight of the disguised clone and the faint dusting of glitter and paint speckles that clung to the clone's shinobi sandals – which had not been henged along with the rest of him.

* * *

The next two weeks would be spent following a similar pattern as Kakashi upheld his promise to train all four Genin into the ground in preparation for their first mission. He spent most of that time pushing Sakura and Sasuke the hardest in order to decrease the gap between their practical skills and Naruto and Haruo's skills. As soon as Haruo's injuries were declared fully healed on the twenty-eighth, he began throwing in teamwork building exercises to teach them to work together and force them to put their differences aside (at least temporarily) for the duration of their training sessions.

There were times when Kakashi wasn't exactly certain who was driving who into the ground when he dragged himself home at the end of the day. Tenzou took great pleasure in laughing at him at every opportunity presented during those first two weeks; especially on those days when Kakashi ended up in one of the prank traps that his two troublesome pranksters constantly set up to catch their other two teammates. Kakashi still managed to get the last laugh when Tenzou was hit with a rather spectacular outburst of mahou from Haruo when the nine year old's mixed feelings over learning Tenzou was his father finally came to a head on Christmas Eve (a western holiday that Tenzou introduced to the two boys in honor of Haruo's western heritage through his mother).

Unsurprisingly, (at least to Kakashi), it had been Tenzou's attempt to take both boys to task for giving each other prank supplies for Christmas and their continued pranking of their teammates during training sessions that had set the kid's temper off. The kid had yelled at Tenzou, kicked him twice in the knee, and unleashed a potent burst of magic that Kakashi had felt brush up against him. The younger man would then spend the next twelve hours looking a lot like the Grinch from Dr. Seuss's '_How the Grinch Stole Christmas_'.

Father and son would then turn around and make up first thing the next morning (much to everyone's relief). And while Haruo still called Tenzou sensei-nii after that, Kakashi was certain that that title now meant far more to both Mokuton users than what its actual meaning implied; as if the gaki was calling Tenzou father without actually calling him father. He also wasn't surprised when he caught Tenzou teaching Haruo how to make Doro Bunshin (a jutsu that required very little chakra when compared to Kage Bunshin or Moku Bunshin) as an apology.

It wasn't until the first time that Haruo set off an exploding mud clone during a spar (and coated all five teammates with a veritable storm of mud) that Kakashi realized that Tenzou had either intentionally or unintentionally given the gaki a legitimate way to prank his teammates without actually looking like he was pranking them. The fact that the size and lethality of the explosion could be controlled through the amount of chakra poured into the technique also meant that there was little risk of injury if Kakashi allowed the kid to use the clones during training.

That didn't mean that Kakashi wouldn't get his former subordinate back for teaching the gaki a new trick.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Doro Bunshin no Jutsu – Mud Clone Technique  
Gomen – I'm sorry (informal)  
Hai – yes  
Maa, maa – now, now or there, there (a phrase used to placate someone)

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	13. Glorious First Mission

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Glorious First Mission

_January 05, 1990, 11:03 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

"Alright, my cute little students, that's enough training for the morning," Kakashi announced unexpectedly and all four Genin stopped the chakra control (or chakra building in Haruo's case) exercises that they'd been working on for the last hour. "You have between now and twelve forty to eat lunch and make yourselves presentable before you meet me at the gate leading into the Hokage's Compound at a quarter till one. We'll be picking up our first mission this afternoon."

"Yosh!" Naruto exclaimed with enthusiasm before he flashed a grin at Haruo after Kakashi vanished in a swirl of leaves immediately upon announcing the news that their team would finally be taking a mission.

The two friends then hurried to gather up any supplies they'd taken out of their packs (which they'd continued to bring with them to every single training session). Once they were packed, they rushed home together in order to get cleaned up so that they could celebrate their coming mission with ramen instead of the bento they'd originally planned to share for their afternoon meal. Their two teammates were left behind without so much as a second thought, let alone a first.

Both boys were rather excited about the prospect of taking their first mission but Naruto was doubly pleased to finally go on their first mission. Missions were an important part of being a shinobi and the blond just hadn't felt like he was a true shinobi when all they'd done for the past two and a half weeks was train. Sure, he liked the fact that Kakashi took the time to train him properly (not surprising when one considered he'd been the same way when he'd trained Naruto as Inu) but he was rather sick of meditation and chakra control exercises.

"What kind of mission do you think we'll be given?" Naruto asked as Haruo unlocked the door to their apartment five minutes later. "I bet we get sent out to protect a really pretty princess or hunt down some priceless treasure that was stolen from the Daimyou!"

"Do you think Kakashi-sensei will really take us out of the village on our first mission?" Haruo asked with a slight frown as the two of them dismantled their security traps before entering the apartment.

"Well, yeah; what other kind of missions are there?" Naruto replied as he closed the door and stripped off his orange and blue jacket at the same time. "Besides, why else would Kakashi-sensei be so worried about training us so hard if he wasn't trying to make sure we were good enough to leave the village?"

"But we've never been allowed outside of the village before," Haruo pointed out as the two of them stripped their way to the bathroom. "Sensei-nii always said it wasn't safe when we used to ask about visiting some of the cooler places we learned about in class."

"Well, that was before we became Genin," Naruto countered as he turned on the hot water. "It's not like they can just keep us locked up inside of the village for the rest of our lives. They have to let us step through the gates sometime."

"I can't see sensei-nii allowing Kakashi-sensei to take me out of the village. What if he makes me stay behind because I'm not as old as you?"

"Then I'll stay here with you," Naruto firmly insisted as Haruo's question immediately doused his enthusiasm over the prospect of finally being allowed to leave the village. He had not forgotten the promise he'd made to the younger boy on the day they'd taken the Graduation Exam. "Kakashi-sensei can't make me leave you behind and if he tries, well, we'll prank the snot out of him since Koneko-chan never said we couldn't prank those who try to separate us. Besides, I doubt Kakashi-sensei would be stupid enough to even try; he already knows what happens to those that try to break us apart."

Haruo snickered over Naruto's logic as his worry over being separated vanished in the face of Naruto's assurances and the blond congratulated himself for cheering up the younger boy. The two of them then climbed into the shower stall together (unmindful of their nakedness) in order to save time by showering at the same time. Something that the two of them had done far too many times to count since the day they'd first met. In less than ten minutes, the two of them were tracking water from the bathroom to their bedroom so they could change into a clean set of clothes.

Once dressed, they made a single abortive attempt to tame their hair (a futile effort for both of them, their hair was just that helpless) before they took another ten minutes to check over the supplies in their packs. The two of them then rushed out the door, reset their security traps, and ran all the way to Ichiraku's so they could order a few bowls of ramen before the lunch hour rush hit the ramen stand. It wasn't long before their rears were soon planting themselves on their favorite seats right in the center of the counter that split the small stand in half.

"Well, if it isn't the two biggest ramen addicts in all of Konoha," Kanzaki Teuchi, the owner and chef that ran the small ramen stand, declared when he caught sight of the two boys sliding onto their seats. "How are my two favorite customers doing today?"

"Is that Naruto and my sweet Haruo-chan, tousan?" Kanzaki Ayame demanded faintly from the back of the restaurant where she was cutting up ingredients.

"You bet!" Naruto called back with a wide grin while Haruo blushed and grumbled over being called sweet by Teuchi's daughter; the older girl just loved to tease the younger boy and had from the moment she'd first met him. Naruto found it rather funny though he was careful not to tease his friend about it too much; lest it invite the brunette to prank him in retaliation. "We came here to celebrate our first mission."

"Oh, really? Already? How did it go?" Teuchi inquired curiously without actually asking for any details on what the mission entailed; the man had lived in the village long enough to know not to ask his shinobi clients for details on the missions that they were assigned.

"We haven't actually done it yet; Kakashi-sensei is taking us to get it right after lunch," Haruo chirped as the flush receded from his face in response to the change of topic.

"That's why we have to celebrate now; since we might not be able to celebrate tonight," Naruto added as he sniffed at the heady scent of rich broths and starchy noodles filling the inside of the stand.

"Well, in that case; what would you two like for lunch?" Teuchi asked as he clapped his hands together.

"I'd like two extra large pork ramen and one miso ramen," Naruto replied without even bothering to glance at the chalkboard menu that sat just outside the stand.

"A large shrimp ramen with extra vegetables please," Haruo ordered next as Ayame glided out of the back of the stand where all of their supplies were kept with two large glasses of strawberry cola in hand.

"Where's my kiss hello my green-eyed cutie?" Ayame demanded as she set one glass down in front of each boy; the girl teasingly referring to the fact that Haruo had been giving her a kiss on the cheek for her present on White Day since he was four in return for the fancy chocolate treats she always gave both boys on Valentine's Day.

"Not gettin' it until March," Haruo mumbled in reply as his earlier blush returned with a vengeance.

"You know, I still don't recall giving you permission to date my daughter, Haruo-kun," Teuchi teased with a stern frown while his eyes twinkled with merriment.

"Not dating anyone; girls have cooties," Haruo firmly insisted as he pouted in response to being teased about the Valentine's kisses yet again (a regular occurrence each time the two of them entered the shop when there were no other customers present); his blush still painting his face bright red.

Ayame giggled and reached out to ruffle Haruo's hair in response to his statement instead of taking offense over being told she had cooties. That too was part of the ritual that took place each time they visited Ichiraku's; just like Teuchi always greeted them warmly and asked them how they were doing. The warmth the father daughter pair offered the two boys was the biggest reason why Ichiraku's Ramen Stand was their favorite restaurant (the second biggest reason was because the ramen was simply divine as far as Naruto was concerned).

And while Haruo often insisted that ramen wasn't really proper food, he never included Ichiraku's ramen in that blanket statement.

The Kanzakis were also one of the few recipients of the extra vegetables and fruit that Haruo's hidden garden produced year round. In fact, Haruo had set aside a special corner of his garden just to grow an assortment of those edible plants and vegetables that were often found in Teuchi's ramen (such as bamboo shoots, carrots, green onions, and water chestnuts). He probably would have tried to grow seaweed too if their apartment wasn't on the second floor since a salt water tank large enough to grow the correct type of seaweed in would have been far too heavy.

Mostly though, Haruo gave the ramen chef and his daughter those fruits that were rather hard to get in Konoha (such as pineapples, raspberries, and citrus fruits like navel oranges and grapefruit), and those apples that didn't thrive in the muggy summers and wet winters that plagued most of Hi no Kuni. Haruo could get anything (and Naruto meant _any_thing) to grow in his garden. He could even grow water plants outside of the water (though it was far harder for him to maintain water plants year round without a proper pond or tank to keep them in – which is why there were two large ponds in Haruo's garden).

Teuchi and Ayame both appreciated the gifts and free produce and while they could have taken advantage of Haruo's generosity to make extra money, they didn't. Instead, they reduced their prices a small amount and doubled the number and types of coupons that they offered to their current and future customers. They also tended to offer both Naruto and Haruo extra toppings in their ramen at no charge as a way of offering their thanks since Haruo had refused to take any money from them for the fresh fruits and vegetables he brought them once a month.

Unknown to the two boys, Teuchi had even tried to give the money to one of their ANBU watchers to start a savings account for the two orphans until Kuma pointed out that Haruo only gave them the produce to begin with because the two of them treated them with kindness. The words 'closest thing to a family either boy had ever known' may have been thrown out during that conversation as well. That had been the last time Teuchi tried to pay Haruo for his gifts and instead began to offer similar gifts (such as the extra toppings and occasional free bowl) in return.

Not that either boy was actually aware of that particular conversation.

Naruto's attention was brought back to the present as Ayame set down a huge bowl filled to the brim with noodles, pork strips, a few vegetables and a sliced hard boiled egg. A slightly smaller bowl topped with shrimp and extra vegetables was placed in front of Haruo a split second later and both boys closed their eyes and inhaled the scent of freshly made ramen before their hands darted out for a pair of chopsticks even as they both cried out an enthusiastic 'itadakimasu' before digging into their respective bowls. Naruto practically inhaled that first bowl and the one that followed.

He slowed down a bit when he was given his third bowl as he took the time to savor every single bite so that he finished at the exact same moment that Haruo finished his first (and only) bowl. The blond then took a few moments to wax poetically over the excellent taste of fresh ramen (something he did each and every time he and Haruo ate at Ichiraku's) before the two boys reluctantly paid for their meal and left the ramen stand as the first few lunch-time regulars began showing up.

"How much time do we have left before we have to meet Kakashi-sensei outside Jijii's office?" Naruto asked as the two of them wandered leisurely through the streets in the direction of the Hokage's Tower.

"Forty-eight minutes and seventeen seconds," Haruo promptly replied and Naruto tried not to twitch in response to hearing his green-eyed friend list the seconds out; the soft snicker from Haruo said that he failed to hide his reaction and that his friend had done it on purpose.

"Want to sit on top of the Yondaime's head until we have to meet the others?" Naruto asked as he ignored Haruo's amusement over his reaction.

"Sure, race you to the top?"

"You're on!"

And just like that, the two best friends went from an ambling walk to a full-throttle dash as they left the streets and scrambled over the rooftops in order to avoid the crowded streets; their laughter filling the air as they ran side by side until they reached the base of the Hokage Mountain. Naruto then pulled ahead of Haruo by a few feet as they ran straight up the face of the mountain until he tripped and stumbled over a fold in the goatee of the Sandaime's carving. Haruo stayed ahead of him until just before they reached the top when Naruto finally caught back up thanks to his longer legs.

Both boys were still laughing as they jumped off of the Sandaime's head and collapsed on top of the spiky hair of the Yondaime Hokage's head out of breath from the mad dash across the village. The two of them then migrated to their favorite seat on the tip of a single lock of hair that jutted straight out over the side of the mountain where the entire village spread out beneath their feet and it felt like they were flying over the village instead of just sitting above it. It was a breathtaking view; especially at dawn and dusk when the rising and setting sun painted the village in fiery reds and oranges and the shadows either retreated or raced across the streets.

The best thing about their perch was the fact that none of the cold stares and spiteful glares could reach them when they were sitting atop the Yondaime's likeness. It made it far easier for Naruto to pretend that there was nothing wrong in their lives when they basked in the peaceful air that clung to the monument.

"My face is going to go right there, dattebayo," Naruto suddenly declared as he pointed to the blank stretch of the mountain's face that sat directly beside the Yondaime's face. "I'm going to be the world's best Hokage and make every one see just how awesome I am!"

"I believe it," Haruo agreed as he turned to grin at Naruto. "And I'll be there to protect you from the annoying elders on the council so your hair doesn't turn as white as Hokage-jijii's hair overnight."

The two boys giggled over the silly idea that it was the elders that had turned the Sandaime's hair white instead of mere old age and stress. Neither boy was too fond of those same elders though; particularly the three oldest ones that called themselves the Hokage's Advisors. Haruo had never personally been within ten feet of the three intimidating adults but Naruto had on several occasions not that long before the two of them had befriended each others. They had both heard plenty of rumors on how those three always caused trouble for the Sandaime and that they didn't like Naruto at all.

In fact, the two boys had once overheard Kuma telling Inu that the three elders were the ones trying the hardest to separate the two of them when the two masked shinobi thought the two of them were sleeping.

Naruto would have gladly pranked them in retaliation for them but those three were at the very top of the rather short list of people that Kuma, Inu, and the Sandaime had expressly forbidden the two of them to ever prank. Some kunoichi named Mitarashi Anko and some guy named Morino Ibiki were also on that list but neither Naruto nor Haruo knew who those two were. Everyone else had pretty much been fair game – including the Sandaime himself.

"You and Jijii will be my advisors; I'll fire those other fossils as soon as the Hat is mine," Naruto stated confidently as he returned Haruo's grin. "After that, I'll declare my inognoration day* as National Pranksters Appreciation Day and make Konoha's Prankster Association an official part of Konoha's government."

Haruo giggled in response to Naruto's silliness and Naruto tried to stay serious right up until his laughter exploded out of him when he just couldn't hold it in any longer. The two of them then began to state all of the silly changes they would make once Naruto became the Hokage. That list included a week long Prankster's Festival each fall, an annual week long Prank War each spring, and requiring an official Pranking Competition to be included in all other national holidays and festivals. It also included making people who were mean to kids wear dunce caps for being idiots and sit in a special made corner for an hour long time out in a public square so that everyone would know they were idiots.

Haruo then insisted that they create a National Tree Appreciation Day where everyone would be required to plant a new tree or adopt an existing tree to take care of for a full year. Naruto agreed and further suggested that they should have a National Gardener's Week to encourage everyone to grow more fruits and vegetables. That particular festival would turn into a full blown nature themed carnival week with each day focusing on a different aspect of nature. Haruo in particular had fun coming up with additional contests, games, and events that could take place during such a festival.

By the time they finished coming up with over two dozen crazy (and in some cases not so crazy) things that they'd like to change when they were in charge of running the village, it was almost time to meet back up with their team. The two of them would then race each other back down the face of the mountain. They would once again be out of breath and full of laughter when they both reached the open gate in the curtain wall that surrounded the Hokage's Compound; the two of them exiting the compound from the inside in order to meet with their team.

Their antics incited an equal amount of amusement and annoyance in the two unfamiliar Chuunin that acted as a visible guard to monitor those passing through the gate into Hokage's Compound and in the two hidden ANBU Guards that patrolled the wall on either side of the gate. Both boys ignored all four guards as they took a moment to search for their teammates before determining that they were the first ones to arrive. Naruto then suggested that the two of them hang about on the wall while they waited for their teammates and sensei to meet them.

That led to the two of them planting themselves halfway up the wall using the tree walking exercise; Naruto sitting cross legged on the wall facing the ground while Haruo was content to lay belly down on the wall facing in the same direction – his face perched on his palms and his little legs idly swinging above his head as he kicked them back and forth. The funniest part was that most people passing through the gate never even noticed the two of them were there unless they were trained sensors or shinobi that were chakra sensitive; both types being people that could sense the two boys' chakra output.

Sasuke and Sakura arrived just eight minutes after the two pranksters had gotten themselves situated and instead of dropping down to join the pair, Naruto and Haruo simply waited to see if the two Genin would bother looking up; they wouldn't. The two friends were nearly in stitches as they listened to Sakura start complaining about them being late since they had once again been the first to arrive. They would stay on the wall and somehow manage to not call attention to themselves (outside of the beacon their large chakra reserves made for those that could sense them) right up until Kakashi arrived exactly fifteen minutes late.

"Good, you're all here; let's go," Kakashi stated lazily as he strolled up to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sakura demanded as she spun around to search the immediate area. "Naruto and Haruo haven't shown up yet! They're even later than you are this time!"

"Hnn," Sasuke condescendingly grunted in agreement; the obvious traces of underlying annoyance easy to hear in his tone and see in his body language and entirely due to the fact that he'd been stuck alone with one of his worst fan-girls for around twenty minutes now.

"The two of you should learn to be a little more observant; your teammates have been loitering halfway up the wall for the last twenty-three minutes," one of the Chuunin on duty dryly pointed out as he pointed upwards.

As one, Sakura and Sasuke both craned their heads back and glanced up and the moment their gazes landed on Naruto and Haruo, the two pranksters cheekily waved to them before they dropped down off the wall to land on their feet beside Kakashi.

"What were the two of you doing up there? Why didn't you come down when we got here?" Sakura asked with a frown that was half pout because she never noticed they were there.

"We were training," Naruto glibly replied as if that should have been obvious.

"Training how? You were just sitting there?"

"They were using an advanced form of the Tree Walking Exercise to maintain their precarious perches on a vertical surface; allowing them to work on their chakra control as they were required to expel a steady and constant flow of chakra from unconventional locations (their stomach and butt in this case)," Kakashi explained as he ushered all four Genin through the gate and led them towards the ground entrance to the Mission Assignment room that sat directly between the main Tower and the Academy.

"When will you teach me how to use the more advanced exercises?" Sasuke demanded with a scowl as he all but glared at Naruto and Haruo for once again reminding him that they were far ahead of him when it came to chakra control.

"Not until you fully master the current exercises I've been having you work on," Kakashi easily answered as they stepped into the Mission Assignment Room. "And your chakra control is no where near the level it needs to be in order to learn any of the advanced techniques that Naruto and Haruo know; they've been working on their chakra control for close to six years and you've just barely started taking your chakra training seriously."

"Sasuke-kun! I just knew today would be my lucky day!" a familiar voice squealed as a purple and blonde blur suddenly attached itself to Sasuke's side before the last Uchiha could even think to reply to Kakashi's statement. The squealing blur was revealed to be one Yamanaka Ino the moment she stopped moving and Naruto couldn't help but snicker as Sasuke tried and failed to pry her off of him.

"Oi, Ino-pig; get your hands off of my Sasuke!" Sakura ordered as she attempted to pull the slightly taller kunoichi off of the highly annoyed Uchiha.

"Oh, hey, Billboard-Brow; I didn't see you there. Wait, did you cut your hair? You did! Why did you cut it so short though?"

"Troublesome," Nara Shikamaru complained from where he was lazily leaning against the wall next to a chip munching Akimichi Chouji.

"You have no idea," Naruto agreed as he and Haruo migrated over to the other two members of Team Ten while Sakura made up some excuse about short hair being more professional in order to avoid telling Ino that she had only cut her hair so short because she couldn't get the worst of the sap out after their initial assessments. "At least the two of you only have to put up with one annoying teammate."

"Why does your team have four Genin instead of the usual three?" Shikamaru asked curiously as he glanced sideways to where Sakura and Ino were still fighting over Sasuke.

"Because our class had an extra graduate and because I'm the youngest to pass this time," Haruo answered absently as he curiously eyed the steady stream of shinobi that were coming and going from the room.

"Why haven't we seen the two of you here picking up a mission sooner?" Chouji inquired between chips.

"Kakashi-sensei wouldn't let us take a mission until Haruo was taken off medical restriction," Naruto replied with a brief frown as he recalled just how long it had taken Haruo's injuries to heal. "So, we're only just now here to get our first mission."

"How did you get hurt in the first place, Haruo?" Shikamaru asked as he gave the nine year old his complete attention.

"Not supposed to talk about it," Haruo mumbled as he shifted his gaze to meet Naruto's eyes.

"Does it have anything to do with Mizuki-sensei's disappearance?" Shikamaru persisted as he dropped his voice enough so that it wouldn't carry very far and both Naruto and Haruo flinched the moment they heard the traitor's name.

"How did you know about that?" Naruto demanded in a hushed hiss as his eyes darted about the room to see who was paying attention to the three of them.

"I heard my otousan complaining to okaasan about something troublesome that happened immediately after graduation."

"We can't talk about that here," Naruto insisted as he cast one final glance in Kakashi's direction. "What time does your sensei usually let you go for the day?"

"Around four unless we have a mission that takes longer to finish," Chouji answered around another handful of chips.

"Lucky bastards; Kakashi-sensei always keeps us until six – except on those nights he keeps us until eight."

"What have you been doing all of this time if you haven't been taking missions?"

"Training from sunrise to sunset every day but Sundays; most days we have to crawl home by the time he lets us go."

"Sucks to be you; Asuma-sensei doesn't meet with us until ten and then we spend a couple hours training before we eat lunch and then the rest of the afternoon is usually spent just hanging around unless we have a mission. And we get the entire weekend off."

"So you only get a couple of hours of training a day? Doesn't that make it hard for him to teach you new things?" Haruo wondered in surprise.

"He hasn't taught us anything new; he just has us spar against him and each other," Chouji corrected.

Naruto frowned before he asked, "Are you saying that your new sensei is just as lazy as you are, Shikamaru?"

"Not lazy, more like laid-back; he lets us work on what we want to aside from the daily sparring," Shikamaru replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Why, what does your sensei have you guys working on?"

"Everything," Haruo sighed with a slight wince.

"What do you mean by everything?" Chouji asked in confusion.

"He has us run the obstacle course a bunch of times to work on our physical condition, situational awareness, throwing accuracy, and increase our physical stamina and endurance," Haruo explained automatically. "Then we spend the rest of the morning working on chakra control. After lunch we spar for half of the afternoon before we spend the rest of the day on chakra building exercises and mediation. He also constantly quizzes us on geography, history, strategy, squad formations, and survival tips during our spars in order to make us recall facts and information faster and teach us how to fight instinctively instead of thinking about it all the time so an enemy can't distract us by talking during a fight."

"We also have to do teamwork building exercises," Naruto added with a shudder.

"So, when did you want to hang out?" Shikamaru inquired as he brought the conversation back around to the reason why Naruto had asked about their training schedule in the first place.

"Sunday…?" Naruto suggested after exchanging a quick glance with Haruo. "Since both our teams have that day off. We could meet at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand around noon for lunch and then hang out for part of the afternoon."

"We'll see you on Sunday then," Shikamaru agreed as he pushed himself away from the wall when a tall, bearded Jounin with an unlit cigarette in his mouth strolled over to their group.

"Who're your friends, Shikamaru?" the man asked as he reached the four boys.

"Uzumaki Naruto and his shadow, Haruo," Shikamaru promptly, if lazily, responded as he flicked his hand between the two friends. He then jerked his thumb in his sensei's direction as he added, "Jounin Sarutobi Asuma."

"It's a pleasure to meet the two of you," Asuma stated warmly even while his eyes sharpened as he intently inspected both boys. "Are you waiting for your sensei to join you?"

"Nah, Kakashi-sensei's over there picking up our first mission," Naruto replied as he blindly jerked his thumb over his back in the direction of the table where the Hokage and a pair of Chuunin were passing out mission scrolls and collecting mission reports. He then scrunched up his nose in confusion as he asked, "Are you related to Jijii?"

"If by jijii you mean the Sandaime, then yes; the Hokage is my father," Asuma replied with obvious reluctance before he asked a question of his own. "Your sensei is Hatake Kakashi? Where's the third Genin on your team?"

"The annoying half of our team is over there being mauled by the annoying third of your team," Haruo innocently stated as he vaguely gestured in the direction of Sakura, Ino, and Sasuke. "How'd you get so tall if you're Hokage-jijii's son?"

"I ate lots of vegetables as a kid," Asuma quipped before he glanced in the direction of the two kunoichi and the single boy trapped between them. "Ino; quit manhandling your fellow Genin and get over here, so I can debrief the team on today's mission."

"Yosh! That's means I'll be taller than you when we're older!" Haruo crowed smugly as he elbowed Naruto in the side as the other three rookies in the room finally stopped fooling around and made their way over to where Naruto and the others were waiting.

"No way! You're even shorter than I was when I was your age," Naruto automatically protested as he elbowed Haruo back.

"Am not! Just you wait; you'll have to look up to me one of these days."

"Settle down you two," Kakashi admonished as he appeared behind them and dropped and hand on each of their heads in order to stop their friendly bickering before it could get out of hand.

"So, I hear you've taken your sweet time in coming around to collect your team's first mission," Asuma drawled as he gestured towards the mission scroll that was currently resting in the rat's nest that doubled as Haruo's hair.

"I had to wait for green-eyes here to be cleared for full duty before I could drag my cute little students along for their first glorious mission," Kakashi replied with his usual eye-smile.

"So, what kind of super, cool, awesome mission did you get for us, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as his earlier excitement returned; completely missing the matching smirks that had formed on Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, and both of the adults' faces. "Are we going to go kick some bandit butts? Or are we going to go rescue a princess from a dragon?"

"Actually, our enemy is far more persistent than any bandit," Kakashi replied with suppressed amusement. "The four of you are going to be routing an entire garden of frightening weeds."

"Yosh! That sounds so…" Naruto started in an excited tone until he realized exactly what Kakashi had said they would be doing and then his voice fell flat as he finished with, "… lame."

"We have to weed a garden?" Sakura whined in what sounded like despair as she glanced down at her well manicured hands in horror while she probably pictured her nails caked with dirt.

"Hnn," Sasuke agreed with a frown while all of Team Ten snickered at their shock.

"No way, gardening is cool," Haruo insisted in stark contrast to his three teammates' reactions.

"Did someone drop you on the head when you were a baby?" Ino demanded as she gave Haruo a funny look. "No one likes doing chores."

"Gardening isn't a chore; gardening is awesome," Haruo insisted as he folded his arms and glared at Ino. "Gardens provide us with more than half our food and spices. Plants also cleanse the air of many pollutants and release oxygen for us to breathe. And trees provide us with shade, fruit, paper, and the logs that are often used for the Kawarimi no Jutsu."

"Yeah, whatever, pulling weeds still sucks," Shikamaru complained as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"What are you three doing for a mission then?" Naruto inquired while Haruo pouted at the Nara.

All three members of Team Ten cringed as Asuma cracked open their mission scroll, read through the contents, and then gleefully announced, "It would appear that we're washing off and painting over a bunch of graffiti from several stores in the market district."

"I'd rather pull weeds," Sakura whispered as she shuddered in remembrance of all the times she'd been hit with paint bombs and exploding paint tags over the last two weeks which drew a confused look from Ino. "I _hate_ paint."

"Well, daylight's a wasting and we've a garden to de-weed," Kakashi interjected before Ino could ask Sakura what she was talking about. "Come along, my cute little students; our client is expecting us."

Naruto soon buried his disappointment over learning that D-Rank missions were nothing but chores; Haruo's growing enthusiasm rather contagious. And it wasn't like he hadn't helped the younger boy keep his secret garden free of weeds whenever they visited the hidden garden. So, at least their mission would be easy. He was slightly less optimistic when they arrived at their client's home and discovered that the extensive herb garden they would be weeding was three times larger than Haruo's hidden garden.

Haruo was still the only one beaming as they were each assigned a section of the garden to work on; Sakura and Sasuke assigned to work on the front flower garden and the smaller flower beds that ran along the side of the house while Naruto and Haruo were told to clear out the sweeping field of herbs and spices behind the house. The only high point of the mission was the fact that Kakashi had allowed Naruto to make a dozen Kage Bunshin to help pull weeds from the back garden to save time.

Working beside Haruo also made his task far easier since Haruo sneakily made all of the weeds in a ten foot by ten foot section pull themselves out of the ground and left them on the ground for Naruto's clones to collect. The younger boy also replanted any herbs that Naruto or his clones accidentally pulled out by mistake; preventing them from being yelled at by the client. The hardest part was actually keeping Haruo from improving the health of the growing herbs and spices like he usually did in their shared garden.

Naruto still wished they could have protected a pretty princess instead though.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Itadakimasu – an expression of gratitude usually offered before one eats (similar to saying bon appétit)  
Kanzaki – random surname I usually give to the father and daughter pair that run Ichiraku's Ramen Stand

**Notes:**

* Inognoration Day – Naruto actually was referring to his inauguration day but stumbled over the proper pronunciation of the word inauguration – so you can consider it an intentional misspelling.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	14. Friendly Overtures

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Friendly Overtures

_January 07, 1990, 11:31 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Nara Shikamaru (the laziest and smartest Genin in the current generation) lazily slipped on his shinobi sandals without bothering to use his hands while pulling his vest on over the mesh-armor shirt he wore. He was just securing his hitai-ate to his left arm when his father slouched through the front door and toed off his shoes.

"Where are you off to so early on a weekend?" Shikaku inquired as he idly glanced at the clock on the wall before returning his gaze to Shikamaru.

"Chouji and I are meeting up with a troublesome pair of former classmates to have lunch and hang out," Shikamaru replied as he finished tying off his headband and stuffed his hands in his pockets before he glanced at his father.

"Troublesome. Do these old friends of yours have names?"

"Uzumaki Naruto and Haruo," Shikamaru sighed out as he slouched down a bit further. "Not sure if I can call them friends or not though since we never really hung out together while at the Academy together."

"Yet you're dragging yourself out of the house before noon to meet up with them on your day off," Shikaku observed as he arched an eyebrow at his son.

"Whatever, we only agreed to meet up when we ran into each other on Friday when their team came in to pick up their first mission at the same time as we were collecting our fourth."

"That isn't too surprising since this year's youngest rookie wouldn't have been cleared for missions until his injuries had completely healed," Shikaku mused as he turned away from Shikamaru and gave the appearance of losing all interest in the topic at hand; though Shikamaru knew his father well enough to know that wasn't strictly true.

"How did you know that Haruo was injured recently?" Shikamaru inquired with a slight frown as he tried to recall if his father had ever mentioned the younger boy in his hearing in the past.

"I _am_ the Jounin Commander in charge of Konoha's Shinobi Force; I'm always informed when a shinobi is injured seriously enough to land them on extended medical leave," Shikaku deflected as he began shuffling in the direction of his office. Just before he disappeared down the hall, the older Nara paused in the door to glance back at Shikamaru as he instructed, "Invite Uzumaki and his friend over for supper tonight; I'd like to finally meet the most notorious pair of troublemakers in Konoha. Oh, and make certain you let your mother know to expect two extra mouths for supper."

"How troublesome," Shikamaru remarked with a frown as his father disappeared into the back of the house; he got the distinct impression that his father knew something he didn't about his fellow rookies.

The twelve year old then pushed that particular mystery out of his mind for the moment as he tracked down his mother in the garden where she was currently tending to her winter blooming lilies and tulips. He hesitated to disturb her for a split second (lest she feel the need to give him a bunch of chores to complete) before he realized that having a couple of guests over for supper would easily distract her from him for now.

"Kaasan, tousan asked me to warn you that we'll be having two guests over for supper tonight."

"Oh, are you bringing Ino-chan and Chouji-kun home again or is your lazy father entertaining his teammates here this time?" Yoshino, Shikamaru's forceful and over-demanding mother, inquired as she glanced up from her flower bed.

"Neither, tousan ordered me to invite a couple of the other rookies over for supper so he could meet them after he learned that Chouji and I are going to meet up with them for lunch today."

"Is that so? You'd best stop by the market this afternoon and pick up some fresh eggplant, a dozen mackerels, and ten pounds of jumbo shrimp for supper then," Yoshino imperiously ordered as she returned her attention to her flowers.

"Hai, kaasan," Shikamaru replied as he hurried back into the house to get some money from his father for the requested groceries before his mother could think of anything else for him to do.

He would meet Chouji just outside of the Nara Estate five minutes later and the two of them automatically fell into step together as they began making their way to Ichiraku's Ramen Stand to meet up with Naruto and Haruo. As they walked along in companionable silence (the two of them comfortable enough with one another's presence to feel no need to fill the air with useless chatter), Shikamaru turned his thoughts to the mystery surrounding Naruto's graduation after he'd initially failed the exam and the serious injury that Haruo had supposedly earned while protecting the blond (if Naruto's angry rant after Sakura had accidentally reinjured the younger boy was actually true).

By the time the two long-time friends reached the ramen stand, Shikamaru determined that he just didn't have enough information yet to form any conclusive conclusions.

"Do you see either of them, Chouji?" Shikamaru asked as they slowed to stop in front of the ramen stand and scouted the nearby area for their fellow Genin.

"I can hear their voices coming from inside," Chouji answered as he tucked his half eaten bag of chips into the utility pouch he wore around his waist and brushed the crumbs from his hands and face before he ducked under the canvas shades that blocked out the sun.

Shikamaru followed his heavyset friend a heartbeat later; the Nara rather unsurprised that Naruto and Haruo had not bothered to wait for them outside – neither boy struck him as having anything resembling proper manners (not that he did either since he just couldn't be bothered to care about something as troublesome as manners most days). He was therefore rather surprised that the two boys, while seated at the bar, did not have any food or drinks in front of them and appeared not to have even ordered yet. That made Shikamaru wonder if the two of them had waited for them or if they had only arrived a minute or two before he and Chouji had.

Haruo would be the first one to note their presence; the green-eyed boy twisting around to glance in their direction the moment they'd ducked inside the small stand. Naruto only turned around in response to Haruo's movement and the fact that the eleven year old had stopped talking as he'd turned. Shikamaru wondered if that meant that Haruo was just more observant than Naruto or if the boy had enhanced senses like the Inuzuka Clan or something.

"Hey, guys," Naruto greeted with his trademark toothy grin.

"Sorry we didn't wait for you outside," Haruo added as he shot a brief glance in Naruto's direction. "The owner of the place across the street doesn't like it when we hang around in the area so we came in here to wait for you instead."

"The guy not a fan of your pranks or something?" Shikamaru inquired with a slight smirk as he and Chouji slid onto the two unoccupied seats to the left of Naruto.

"Or something," Naruto muttered as he shot a glowering look at the front of the stand where the canvas shades blocked the view of the stand across the street. The blond then spun around on his stool, pasted a grin back on his face, and raised his voice as he called out, "Oi, Ayame-chan! Our friends are finally here and we're ready to order now!"

"I hope you guys like ramen," Haruo chirruped as he leaned around Naruto's back to grin at Shikamaru and Chouji.

"It's okay but I prefer barbecued meat," Chouji replied as he sniffed appreciatively at the scents filling the stand.

"Troublesome but edible," Shikamaru added with a lopsided smirk as he watched Naruto's expression turn indignant in response to the verbal slight against ramen.

"Hello boys, welcome to Ichiraku's Ramen Stand," a young woman, that Shikamaru figured was the 'Ayame-chan' who Naruto had been calling for earlier, greeted as she stepped out from the kitchen at the back of the stand. She then arched an eyebrow at the pair seated to Shikamaru's right as she asked, "Well, aren't one of you two going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Ayame-chan, meet Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji; Shikamaru, Chouji; meet Kanzaki Ayame," Haruo promptly introduced while Naruto dropped his head on the counter with a loud thunk. The younger boy then scrunched his nose up in confusion as he added, "But I didn't know we were friends. The only friend I've ever had before was Naruto."

"Are you telling me that you don't count me as your friend?" Ayame teasingly demanded as she propped her hands on her hips.

"Yep, you're a girl and boys can't be friends with girls because girls have cooties."

"Oh, you're such a brat, Haruo-chan," Ayame gasped a she bopped Haruo over the head with a menu that she grabbed from beneath the counter.

"So mean," Haruo whined as he clutched at his head and pouted at the girl; his green eyes appearing to grow larger as they developed a sheen of unshed tears that soon had the woman forgetting her ire in favor of cooing over him.

"Did that really just happen?" Shikamaru asked Naruto in disbelief.

"Yeah, that happens all the time around girls and old ladies. The only girls that seem to be immune to Haruo's puppy eyes and pouty faces are Sakura, Ino, and one or two of the other girls in Sasuke's stupid fan club but that's only because they're too dense to pay attention."

"Lucky bastard, I wonder if his little trick would work on okaasan."

"Probably."

"Think he can teach me how to do that?"

"Doubt it; I've been taking lessons from Haruo for six years and I still can't make an angry old lady fold and offer up homemade cookies as an apology like Haruo can."

"Chikushou," Shikamaru muttered as he watched the ramen waitress fawn over the younger Genin.

Eventually, the girl let Haruo alone and took their lunch orders. After they'd eaten and paid for their food, the four of them slipped out of the ramen stand. Shikamaru then looked to Naruto for directions on where they would be going to have their promised discussion. The Nara heir was more than a little surprised when he saw Naruto and Haruo holding a silent conversation using ANBU Sign Code with a fluency that Shikamaru had not seen outside of his father on the rare occasions that an ANBU member turned up at their house with a summons or message for his father from the Hokage.

That confused Shikamaru even more since the one time he'd asked his father to teach him the complex sign language, he'd been told quite firmly that it was only taught to high ranking Jounin, members of the ANBU Corps, and those assigned to the Torture and Interrogation Department. Shikamaru was quite certain that Naruto and Haruo did not qualify on any of those grounds and so it made no sense for them to have been taught the language. His frown deepened when he recalled hearing both boys speak in English a time or two during their four years at the Academy.

The number of shinobi that were taught what were known as the Outside Languages (the languages that were spoken in the Outer Countries) was very limited and those that qualified had to be personally screened by his father's old teammate and Ino's father, Yamanaka Inoichi. Shikamaru was the only exception to the rule, or so he had once believed, since his father had taught him multiple foreign languages growing up, including English. But that had more to do with the fact that Yamanaka Clan had very close ties to the Nara Clan and therefore could keep an eye on Shikamaru to make certain he didn't abuse his knowledge (since those languages were often used in codes) or teach it to someone he shouldn't.

So, why was it that Naruto and Haruo were both fluent in two highly regulated languages when they were both believed to be clanless orphans with no connections and no apparent special talent (not counting Haruo's pout trick)?

"Come on you two, let's go," Naruto stated; his voice interrupting Shikamaru's thoughts.

"Where are we going?" Chouji asked curiously as Haruo began leading them away from the Restaurant District in the direction of the Hokage's Compound.

"Just to our apartment," Naruto answered with a careless shrug.

"Apartment? Don't the two of you still live in the orphanage?" Shikamaru inquired as the idea of two children close to his own age living on their own sounded rather weird since he knew for a fact they didn't have a guardian (he'd heard enough adults to complain about there being a lack of adult influence in their lives to know that).

"Nah, we moved out of the orphanage the day we started at the Academy. I hated that place anyway."

Filing away that information, Shikamaru silently took note of where they were going so he could easily find his way back to the pair's apartment if he needed to in the future. Their destination turned out to be one of the more memorable apartment complexes in Konoha; the building looked like a giant pink cake. Somehow, it didn't surprise him that the two pranksters would live in such a place and he briefly wondered if the color of the building was the result of a prank that the two of them had played on their landlord at some point. It wouldn't surprise him if it was.

Haruo and Naruto's apartment turned out to be the penthouse suite at the very top of the building and included a rickety old balcony that faced the Hokage's Monument. The apartment itself was rather small; consisting of a small entry way, a kitchen slash dining room, a boxy little living room, a small bathroom with a combined shower and tub, and a small bedroom that was half the size of Shikamaru's bedroom at home. It was also surprisingly neat considering that the only ones that lived there were two boys.

After the brief tour, the four of them ended up in the kitchen where Haruo dug out a large selection of fresh vegetables, a bowl of ranch dressing, a plate of what looked like homemade zucchini bread, and four cans of orange Ponta. While Haruo was gathering the drinks and snacks, Naruto was grabbing plates, glasses, and napkins and putting on a kettle of water in case anyone wanted tea. Just a few short minutes later, all four of them were seated at the table; Chouji happily munching on the zucchini bread while Haruo nibbled on raw veggies and Naruto just fiddled with his drink.

"So, how did you earn your hitai-ate, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked as he slouched down in his chair. "I know you didn't pass the graduation exam when the rest of us did but when you showed up on Monday for team assignments you were wearing a hitai-ate and Iruka-sensei didn't kick you out of class, so you must have earned it."

"Naruto should have passed the exam; Mizuki-teme sabotaged him," Haruo growled in an uncharacteristic show of anger that had Shikamaru's eyebrows reaching for his hairline in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Mizuki was a traitor," Naruto explained in a subdued voice that was even stranger to hear than Haruo's anger. "After I failed the exam, Mizuki tricked me into stealing something important by claiming it was a special make-up test. Haruo and I did the 'mission' test exactly as he told me to but then we learned he'd lied about the whole thing after Iruka-sensei found us first. He tried to kill us and take the thing we stole."

"So the things that you'd said when you snapped at Sakura on the day we got our team assignments, about how Haruo saved you and almost lost his arm, was true?"

"Yeah, it was," Naruto agreed as he turned to the younger boy and Shikamaru followed his gaze to find Haruo clutching his right shoulder with his left hand.

"Why were you given a hitai-ate after that though? Did you help capture Mizuki or something?" Chouji asked between bites and Shikamaru was further shocked when Naruto flinched sharply before he actually fled the room without saying a word. Chouji immediately grew concerned that he might have said something to upset Naruto and turned to Haruo to hesitantly ask, "What happened? Was it something I said?"

"Naruto killed Mizuki," Haruo quietly stated as he stared off in the direction Naruto had vanished. Shikamaru and Chouji both went pale upon hearing that; they hadn't known that Mizuki had been killed. Haruo then turned and pinned the two older boys with fathomless green eyes that were so cold and sharp that they froze them both in their seats as he added, "Naruto only killed him because Mizuki-teme hurt me. He's not a monster or a demon. He's a hero. So you'd better not bug him about what he did because I'll make you regret it if you do."

"It would be too troublesome to bug him over something like that," Shikamaru lazily assured Haruo; though the way his voice cracked gave away how much it bothered him to know that Naruto had killed a man that had taught and trained their entire class for three years. He was also more than a little wary of the threat that Haruo had just given them due to the rather ominous tone it had been delivered in. "What did you mean when you said that Mizuki sabotaged Naruto?"

"He was using genjutsu to make Naruto fail his written tests and to make Iruka-sensei overlook things. If Mizuki hadn't messed things up, then Naruto would have passed the test when everyone else did. That's why Iruka-sensei gave him his hitai-ate; he said he had made a mistake and should not have failed Naruto."

"Does that mean that Mizuki messed with everyone else's tests and stuff?" Chouji asked as he finally recovered from learning about Naruto killing Mizuki.

"I don't know. Maybe. Kakashi-sensei was mad because there were a bunch of things that the instructors at the Academy were supposed to teach us before we graduated but didn't. So, Mizuki might have been the one to do that."

"What do you mean? What kinds of things should we have learned?" Shikamaru demanded with a slight frown; the idea of a teacher withholding necessary information or skills troubling him since things like that could get a Genin killed the first time they left the village. He also knew the value of having a proper grounding in the basics; he might be lazy and slack off every now and then but he was not stupid enough to ignore any portion of his studies completely.

"Just a bunch of little things like using chakra pulses to clean and dry yourself, an E-Rank fire jutsu for lighting fires and torches, using chakra to make yourself faster and stronger, and information on those countries that don't have Hidden Villages. There was other stuff too but it'd take forever to go over everything."

"How did your sensei find out we didn't learn all of that stuff?" Chouji wondered with a slight frown as he glanced at Shikamaru; Asuma-sensei hadn't mentioned anything to them about them not being taught stuff that they were supposed to have learned before they graduated.

"Because Naruto and I learned all that stuff outside of the Academy over the last four years."

"And your sensei would have immediately noticed the gap in skills and knowledge between the two of you and your other two teammates," Shikamaru deduced with a grimace. "That also explains why Asuma-sensei might not have picked up on the fact that we also didn't learn any of that stuff. He probably figured we were just too lazy to use any of it."

"Both of you are from clans though; why didn't your parents teach you that stuff?"

"Because they thought the Academy would teach us," Shikamaru replied with a scowl. "The only things we learned at home were clan techniques. Why were you and Naruto receiving extra lessons? And why do the two of you both know the ANBU Sign Code and English?"

"What are you talking about, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked from the doorway as he finally returned from wherever it was he'd gone when he'd left the room while Haruo had gone bone white and wide eyed in obvious fear.

"Please, I've seen my tousan 'speaking' to the ANBU that visit him often enough to know what the ANBU 'Code' looks like when its used and I saw the two of you using it earlier. I also overheard the two of you planning out your pranks in English more than once while we were in class."

"You can't tell anyone," Haruo half insisted and half pleaded as the lights above their head suddenly began flickering for some strange reason.

"Calm down, Haruo; I'm sure Shikamaru and Chouji can be trusted," Naruto blurted out as he eyed the flickering lights before he hurried over to Haruo's side.

"What's the big deal about you two getting extra lessons? Or knowing extra languages?" Chouji asked as he resumed munching on the bread. "I mean, all of the clan kids get extra lessons from their parents and stuff."

"No one was supposed to know," Naruto explained with a shrug as he continued casting concerned glances at Haruo every few seconds. "And I only got the extra lessons because Haruo wanted me to have them with him. So, you guys can't tell anyone, not even Ino; especially not Ino, she's worse at keeping secrets than Sakura is."

"But why?"

"Sensei-nii said it was to protect me," Haruo answered with obvious reluctance.

"Protect you from what?"

"Those that would want to use me or kill me because of my Kekkei Genkai."

"Oh, that almost explains everything," Shikamaru blurted out as several pieces of the puzzle slid into place the moment Haruo revealed he carried a Kekkei Genkai. "Can you tell us which one you have?"

"I'm really not supposed to."

"That's fine; you don't have to tell us, I was just curious. Will you tell us why the two of you were taught English and the ANBU Sign Code instead?"

"I only spoke English before I ended up in the orphanage with Naruto," Haruo answered as he finally began to relax again. "I didn't learn Japanese until Naruto taught me and I taught him English in return."

"Taka-san taught us sign language when we used to have ANBU Guards watching us," Naruto added as he dropped into his seat. "He said it was so they could give us silent order to follow if there was ever a problem or something."

"I take it the guards were to protect Haruo from those who suspected he had a Kekkei Genkai?"

"Nah, I had ANBU babysitters long before I met Haruo," Naruto countered to Shikamaru's surprise.

"What for?" Chouji asked as he finished off the last of the zucchini bread and began making inroads on the vegetables; the heavy-set boy still following along with the conversation even if he was letting Shikamaru ask most of the questions.

"I don't know if you ever noticed it or not but most of the village can't stand me."

"Yeah, but that's only because the two of you played so many pranks on people."

"No, I only play pranks on people because they always glare at me and call me names under their breath when they think I can't hear them."

"If it wasn't your pranks that made people upset with you, then what was it?"

"It's another one of those things that we're not supposed to talk about," Haruo stated as he calmly met Shikamaru's gaze; all signs of his earlier distress buried beneath his protectiveness for Naruto.

"Troublesome."

Haruo cracked a smirk as he retorted, "You have no idea."

"Whatever," Shikamaru snorted as he buried a flash of irritation over yet more information being withheld from him.

"So, was there anything else you wanted to know?" Naruto inquired as he popped a small, ranch smothered radish into his mouth.

"Just one thing… do the two of you have any plans for tonight?"

"Er, not really, why?" Naruto answered after he exchanged a quick glance with Haruo.

"Otousan ordered me to invite the two of you to supper because he'd like to meet you."

"Ano, did he say why he wanted to meet us?"

"Not really, just that he wanted to."

"Oh."

"So, will you come?"

"I guess we can," Naruto hesitantly agreed and Shikamaru couldn't help but notice that both boys seemed rather nervous but he suspected that was just because his father wanted to meet them.

"That's good; I'd hate to have to tell my troublesome mother you couldn't come after she already started planning tonight's supper. You two aren't allergic to anything, are you?"

"Nope."

"And do you have any problems eating tempura shrimp and eggplant or fried mackerel?"

"Err, not really but I'm not a big fan of cooked vegetables unless there's cheese sauce to drown out their taste," Naruto admitted a little sheepishly.

"That's fine; I'll warn okaasan and make sure I pick up some cheddar cheese when I go the store for her this afternoon so she can make some for you."

"Ano, what should we bring as a gift?" Haruo tentatively asked as he nervously bit his lip. "We're supposed to bring a gift, ne? Because we're guests?"

"It's traditional but you don't have to; it's not like we're doing anything special, we're just having supper. Haven't you two ever been invited over to someone's house supper before?"

"No," Haruo replied as he shrugged his left shoulder. "No one really wants us around except a few people and they usually invite us out to Ichiraku's instead of back to their houses."

"They're all idiots," Naruto insisted as he crossed his arms and scowled at the table.

"Troublesome. If it will make you feel better, you can bring okaasan some flowers or fresh fruit," Shikamaru suggested when it became clear that both orphans were still rather uncomfortable.

"Flowers and fruit? I can do that," Haruo stated as he immediately perked up. "Do you know what her favorites are?"

"Kiwi or kumquats for fruit but they're hard to get in Konoha and she's really fond of lilies and tulips. The Yamanaka Flower Shop always has some in stock."

"I can harvest both the fruit and flowers from my garden," Haruo countered with a brief head shake.

"You have fruit bearing kiwi and kumquat trees in your garden. In the middle of winter?" Shikamaru asked skeptically as he tried to recall what he knew of the various fruit cycles.

"I grow all kinds of stuff year round in my garden."

"Haruo's hidden garden is the best garden in all of Hi no Kuni. The veggies we're eating came from his garden as did the veggie toppings on the ramen we ordered from Ichiraku's earlier and the zucchini that he used to make the zucchini bread that Chouji ate."

"Really?" Chouji asked with some surprise. "That was some of the best zucchini bread I've ever had; it was almost as good as the zucchini bread that obaasan used to make before she passed away."

"I have more if you'd like to take some with you," Haruo offered as a pleased blush spread across his cheeks in response to the praise that Chouji had just given him.

"Cool, I'd like that."

Haruo nodded as he jumped up to wrap up what looked to be the last two loves of the homemade sweet-bread that he then passed over to Shikamaru's food obsessed best friend. Shikamaru smiled to himself over the small kindness that Haruo had just shown by willingly sharing the homemade treat with Chouji without a second thought. Few people ever wanted to offer a hungry Akimichi free food since they tended to eat large quantities of food all day long and it could get expensive feeding even one member of that clan.

"Can you show us your secret garden?" Shikamaru asked after checking the time to make certain he still had plenty of time to get to the market and pick up the stuff his mother had asked him to get.

"Sure, though you can't ever go there if I'm not with you because you won't be able to get in."

"Is that so others won't steal the stuff you grow?"

"Something like that," Haruo hedged as he began clearing off the table (though he surprisingly didn't take the tray of vegetables away from Chouji since the large boy was still eating from the tray). "We can go now, if you want, or we can show it to you next weekend or something if you don't have time right now since you said something about picking up stuff for your okaasan from the market."

"There should still be plenty of time; I only have to pick up some fish, shrimp, eggplant, and the cheese."

"Oh, we can pick some eggplant from the garden too so that you don't have to buy any. I should have lots. Hey, Naruto, do we still have that old wicker basket Neko-chan gave us to hold fruit or did we toss it out?"

"It's on top of the refrigerator because it was too big for the counter," Naruto replied before he walked up the front of said appliance (much to Shikamaru's surprise) to grab the large basket that was sitting on top if it. The blond then passed the basket to Haruo who took it over to the sink to rinse the dust from it before he dried it with a pulse of chakra.

"Here, Akimichi-san, you can put the rest of the vegetables in this bag so you can take them with us," Haruo stated as he dug out a large ziplock bag that he handed to Chouji when he noticed Chouji trying to hurry up and finish all of the food on the tray.

"You don't mind?" Chouji countered with surprise.

"Not at all; I can always grow more so it doesn't really cost me anything to get more."

"Thanks, Haruo, and you know you can call me Chouji, ne?"

"You're welcome, Chouji," Haruo replied as he beamed at the larger boy and Shikamaru noticed that the way Haruo had bonded with Chouji over food made Naruto a little depressed; almost as if the blond was afraid that Haruo would stop being his friend because he made friends with Chouji.

_Troublesome_, Shikamaru thought to himself. _Haruo is far too protective of Naruto; he'd never abandon him. Hopefully, Naruto will figure that out before he tries to start any trouble with Chouji out of jealousy_

Three minutes later, the four of them were once again making their way across the village; this time they were heading to one of the less popular districts due to the number of shinobi training fields found in that part of the village. As they walked through the streets, Haruo and Chouji chattered back and forth about food while Naruto hung back behind them and sulked.

"Naruto, Chouji isn't going to steal Haruo away from you; you know that, right?" Shikamaru asked softly as he moved to walk beside the blond. "He just loves to talk about food with anyone that will listen."

"I know," Naruto replied just as quietly. "It's just hard not to be a little jealous of how good they are getting along all of a sudden when up until now we'd been each other's only friend since the day we first met. You don't have to worry though; I'm not going to pick on Chouji just because he gets along with Haruo. Haruo gets along with almost everyone."

"I wasn't too worried," Shikamaru reflexively denied. "I was just concerned because you were pouting."

"Whatever," Naruto snarked back with a small smile that had Shikamaru smirking in return.

Shikamaru and Naruto would both make the rest of the trip across the village in companionable silence; something that was kind of odd for the young Nara since he couldn't ever recall Naruto ever being quite so silent before. Then again, it wasn't like Shikamaru had really paid all that much attention to the blond or his perpetual shadow over the past four years. It made him wonder just how much he'd missed after he'd dismissed the two of them as too troublesome to bother with back when they had all started at the Academy.

Before he could fully process that thought, their little group had slipped into one of the many forests that surrounded Konoha and Haruo latched onto Chouji's wrist before he reached back to latch onto Shikamaru with his other hand. Any questions that Shikamaru might have voiced died on his tongue when he felt himself being pulled through a powerful barrier that he hadn't even known was there. A split second later, the four of them were standing inside of one of the strangest gardens he'd ever seen.

Everywhere he looked there all kinds of trees, plants, bushes, and vines all jumbled together in a mixture of flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs, and grasses with a handful of well maintained paths that cut through the veritable mess. Aside from the disorderly layout of the plants, it was plain to see that the entire garden was positively thriving and producing an abundance of blooms and fruits _out of season_. Shikamaru had not even known that such chaotic disorder could exist in a single garden and if he wasn't looking at it with his own eyes, he never would have believed such a garden existed.

It was _wild_ in a way his mother's precious flower beds and the vast grounds on the Nara Estate were not.

"How do you ever find what you are looking for in here?" Shikamaru wondered as he noted a bean plant twining around the trunk of a pecan tree right alongside a flowering vine of morning glory.

"Easy, I know where everything is," Haruo laughingly replied as he let go of both boys before he happily darted off into the garden.

"Didn't I tell you that Haruo's garden was the best?" Naruto asked as he swept his arm out in a grand gesture. He then grew rather serious as he shot a look in the direction that Haruo had disappeared in before he leaned closer to Shikamaru and Chouji as he whispered, "Haruo won't mind if you want to look around and sample some of the fruits and stuff but whatever you do, don't step on any of the plants or pull anything out by the roots. Haruo gets rather… grumpy if any of the things he grows gets damaged. And Haruo can be _really_ scary when he'd mad."

"We'll be careful," Shikamaru assured the blond as he recalled the intense look in Haruo's eyes earlier and the way Chouji could go from friendly to furious if he so much as heard the word 'fat'.

The lazy Genin would then spend the next hour wandering aimlessly through the garden silently documenting each and every single plant he came across. More than once he'd find himself feeling completely bewildered when he came across a species of plant or tree that he knew could only be grown under specific conditions or in certain climates but was somehow thriving beneath Konoha's sun in Haruo's garden. He knew that there were some people that were born with 'green thumbs' that could grow almost anything but that usually involved paying extra close attention to details and meticulously recreating a plant's specific environment in order to get it to thrive.

Half of the plants he saw in Haruo's garden defied all logic.

Some of them should have died outside of a green house. Others should have been dormant simply because in was the middle of winter! Even if it never snowed in Konoha, it was still cold and damp due to the frequent winter storms that passed through the area. The conglomeration of produce and flowers he was seeing should not have been possible. And yet, he couldn't deny what all five of his senses were telling him; he could see, smell, taste (he was nibbling on freshly picked blueberries), feel, and hear (a light breeze was currently rustling leaves and limbs) that it was all real.

He'd even spent a few minutes trying to snap himself out of a nonexistent genjutsu just to be sure.

At the end of that hour, all four boys were laden down with an assortment of things that Haruo had harvested from the garden. Chouji had been given a bunch of fruits, vegetables, berries, and nuts to take home. Naruto was holding onto a ridiculous number of rare lilies and tulips (some of them with the bulbs still attached). Haruo was carrying a woven grass basket filled to the bursting with kiwi fruits, kumquats, and strawberries. And Shikamaru had been left with the large wicker basket that now held three large eggplants, several larger zucchini, a bunch of carrots, four different kinds of onions, and a large pile of snow peas.

Shikamaru sighed as Haruo escorted him and Chouji out of the barrier that hid his secret garden; the Nara heir torn between being happy that Chouji had found another friend and exasperated because he was technically working on his day off. He then began leading their little group of misfits (because really, that was what they were) towards the market place so that he could buy the rest of the things on his mother's short shopping list. Chouji would break off almost as soon as they reached familiar streets; the Akimichi heir eager to deliver his haul of free produce to his mother for immediate cooking.

Shikamaru and his future supper guests then hit the market; Shikamaru buying fish, shrimp, and cheese, Haruo picking up the ingredients needed to make a shortcake, and Naruto buying a large plastic bowl to hold all of the flowers so they wouldn't get crushed. Once they'd paid for their purchases, Shikamaru led the two younger boys back to the Nara Estate; the twelve year old figured that his parents wouldn't mind them showing up early and it would be too troublesome to send them home just to go fetch the two a few hours later.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Ano – uh/um  
Chikushou – damn/damn it  
Ne – used to solicit agreement or confirmation from the listener similar to using 'isn't it?' or 'right?' in English  
Obaasan/baasan – grandmother  
Okaasan/kaasan – mother  
Otousan/tousan – father

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	15. Troublesome Guests

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Troublesome Guests

_January 07, 1990, 03:49 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Thirty-eight year old Nara Shikaku (current Head of the Nara Clan, Jounin Commander of Konoha's Shinobi Force, and loving, if lazy, husband and father) silently observed his son and his two guests from the shadow of a mulberry tree as the three lightly burdened boys stepped through the torii gate marking the entrance to the Nara Estate. His lips twitched upwards in amusement as the youngest of the trio snapped his gaze to Shikaku's hiding spot the moment he set foot on the property before his attention got caught up in the extensive gardens and lawns that made up the vast estate.

The Jounin took that moment to study the young boy that his friend and teammate had often spoken of with amusement and exasperation over the past six years; the orphaned Haruo.

The boy had messy dark-brown hair that appeared as if it had never seen a comb. His skin was lightly tanned and indicative of years spent training and playing outside beneath the sun. His eyes, what little Shikaku had seen of them in the short time they'd been locked on his hidden form, were a startling shade of leaf-green that sparkled like gemstones and filled with obvious intelligence. He wore a baggy track-suit that was mostly green and brown with a few white accents; clothing which Shikaku knew would help the child better hide when in a forest.

The last thing that Shikaku noted was that the child was far too small for his age. If Shikaku didn't know that the kid had just celebrated his eleventh birthday this past summer (he'd recently reviewed the Academy records for the graduating Genin), he would have pegged him as being closer to eight or nine. His size was both an advantage and a disadvantage; since his small frame would make it far easier for him to sneak into and hide in places where larger shinobi could not fit but at the same time would mean that his stamina, strength, and force would fall below average for his age group. He could also be seriously injured if he took a direct hit from a powerful opponent.

Shikaku hummed to himself and made a mental note to advise Kakashi to have the boy improve his speed and flexibility (if he wasn't already doing so) before he turned his attention to the only blond in the group.

With his bright yellow hair, lightly tanned complexion, and sapphire blue eyes, Uzumaki Naruto could almost be mistaken for a much younger (and still alive) Namikaze Minato. The reasons why he wasn't seen as Minato's clone was due to the roundness of his face (inherited from his mother), the six whisker-like birthmarks that marred his cheeks (due to contact with the Kyuubi's chakra while in the womb), and his loud and rambunctious personality (also inherited from his mother). In fact, aside from his bright hair, the blond was all Uzumaki.

And if his looks and personality weren't enough to make him stand out, the bright orange and blue track-suit he wore would have made him even harder to miss. How the troublesome little miscreant ever managed to accomplish even half of the pranks that were purported to have been instigated by him and his little friend while wearing that particular eye sore was a complete mystery. His friend's clothing of choice was little better in that regards (since the earthy colors would not have helped him to blend into background while in the middle of the village).

It also spoke of stealth skills well above their current age and level. In fact, some of the pranks the two boys had managed to pull off indicated that their trapping skills were beyond that of mere Genin and had been for _years_. That implied that someone had gone out of their way to train both boys on material outside of the Academy curriculum.

Shikaku didn't see that as a bad thing; just unusual since it implied that the boys had at least one hidden benefactor. And _that_ could be a bad thing. There was no telling what kind of reasons said benefactor(s) had for helping the two boys or even what their hidden teacher(s) were asking in return for the extra training. The chances of there being another traitor taking an interest in the young Jinchuuriki were rather high given how long Mizuki had managed to fly under the radar. A scowl briefly pulled the corners of Shikaku's mouth downwards as his thoughts briefly touched on that traitor.

Too bad the bastard had not survived his unveiling; Ibiki would have had a field day drawing every last scrap of information from him. At least Inoichi had been able to salvage _some_ information from the dead man's brain using his family's lesser known jutsu to lift the man's long-term memories directly from the brain. Those memories were incomplete and slightly disjointed though; making them far harder to sift through since information stored in the brain tended to degrade fairly rapidly after death due to the breakdown of cells postmortem.

Shoving that line of thinking out of his mind (lest he give himself a headache), Shikaku pushed himself away from his perch against the mulberry tree and ambled out of the shadows so he could be properly introduced to both boys. It would also give him a chance to inspect the two of them up close. Even before Shikaku had fully stepped out of the shadows, Haruo had snapped his gaze back around in his direction; his vibrant eyes unerringly pinpointing Shikaku's exact location with minimal effort.

That little trick was enough to confirm the notation on Haruo's shinobi file identifying the child as a natural born chakra sensor. It also let Shikaku know that the child had been at least partially trained to use that ability since he knew for a fact that Uzumaki's vast reserves would have smothered the senses of an untrained sensor. That was a clear indication that Haruo had been taught how to pick apart individual chakra signatures in order to sense Shikaku's chakra while standing directly beside Uzumaki (or that he was clever enough to figure it out himself).

Uzumaki would notice Shikaku a split second after a Haruo; the blond obviously used to taking cues from the younger boy since his head had began turning the moment he'd noticed Haruo's turning. The moment Uzumaki's eyes landed on his shadow distorted outline, the blond twisted and stepped to the side in order to put himself between Shikaku and his friend. It was at that point that Shikamaru finally noticed the behavior of his guests and Shikaku's son let out a gusty sigh as he frowned at Shikaku's half hidden form.

"Tousan, would you quit testing them already; it's far too troublesome," Shikamaru complained; an indication that his son had been aware of his presence from the start even if he'd been too lazy to acknowledge him.

"Who said I was testing anyone?" Shikaku inquired as he finally stepped clear of the shadows and meandered up to the group so that he could take a peek see at what they were carrying; part of him surprised at the sheer volume of produce and fresh blossoms they were holding – some of it out of season and therefore expensive.

"Why else would you hide in the shadows of that particular tree?" Shikamaru countered with a snort. "If you were just hiding from that troublesome woman to get out of any chores she might give you, then you would have gone to see to the deer in an attempt to look busy."

"Deer…?" Haruo parroted as his green eyes lit up with obvious excitement.

"Our clan hand raises a species of deer that's well known for their intelligence and territorial behavior. And while the main herd is housed elsewhere, we do keep a few here on the Estate," Shikaku explained with a small smile.

"That's so cool; can we see them?"

"No, I'm afraid not; the deer don't like outsiders and are liable to attack you if they sense or see you in or near what they consider to be their territory," Shikaku replied only to frown when Haruo minutely flinched upon hearing the word outsiders.

"No fair," Haruo grumbled with an exaggerated pout in an obvious attempt to cover up his reaction.

"Shikamaru, why don't you go ahead and introduce me to your friends?" Shikaku prompted in order to avoid the strange need he suddenly felt to apologize to the diminutive boy for protecting him from the aggressive behavior of the herd.

"Guys, this is my otousan; Nara Shikaku. Tousan, this is Uzumaki Naruto and his troublesome shadow, Haruo."

"Hello, Nara-san," Haruo politely replied as all traces of his earlier pout thankfully disappeared. The boy then cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy as he asked, "Does every member of your clan have a first name that starts with 'shika' or is it just a coincidence that the two of you share that prefix?"

"Most of those born into the clan do but there are a few exceptions," Shikaku answered around a chuckle as he began leading the group towards the house. "May I ask why all three of you are carrying enough produce to feed a small army when I was pretty certain that my wife's initial list was a little more conservative in nature."

"Oh, that would be my fault. I went a little overboard when I was harvesting stuff," Haruo replied with a light blush as he grinned down at the fruit in the large grass basket (which was actually more net-like in nature) he was carrying. "I gave most of what I picked to Chouji."

"Harvested? You mean you didn't buy any of that from the market?"

"Haruo insisted on bringing a gift and when he learned okaasan asked me to buy some eggplant, he insisted on giving me some from his garden," Shikamaru explained in a neutral tone that made it difficult for Shikaku to determine if the offer of free food had annoyed his son or not; though the fact that Haruo had shared the bounty with Chouji probably meant his son hadn't minded at all.

"I don't mind sharing; I can always grow more whenever I want to," Haruo stated with the confidence of someone who both enjoyed gardening and was fairly good at it.

Shikaku wasn't all that surprised; Inoichi had spoken of the child's love of gardens and nature on more than one occasion through the years. He also knew that Inoichi hadn't told him everything that he knew about the child. There had been a number of topics that his friend had purposefully avoided whenever he spoke of Haruo; such as where he'd been found, who his parents had been, and why Inoichi kept such a close eye on the child. His shinobi file had similar glaring holes.

In fact, Haruo's file was far too similar to Uzumaki's file in that it held very little information outside of his basic description (age, height, weight, hair color, and eye color), his Academy records, truncated medical report, and the blurb about his status as a chakra sensor. He knew why Uzumaki's file was so sparse but there didn't seem to be any reason for Haruo's file to be equally sparse unless there was far more to the child than there appeared to be. Or the child was considered a security risk due to his friendship with Uzumaki; which was a distinct possibility.

However, if either one of those theories was true, then why hadn't he been debriefed on the matter due to his position as the Jounin Commander?

The only reason why Inoichi wouldn't have said anything to him was because he had been instructed _not_ to speak of what he knows; that implied that someone higher up was trying to hide Haruo in plain sight. And the number of people with that kind of power was a fairly short list starting with Morino Ibiki (Head of Konoha's T &amp; I Dept.), Kasai (current Commander of the ANBU Corps), and Sarutobi Hiruzen (the Sandaime Hokage). Shikaku also knew that all three men trusted him (or he wouldn't be the Jounin Commander), so why hadn't they trusted him with the truth about Uzumaki's little friend?

It was a puzzle; hence the reason why he was using his son's passing association with the pair in order to learn more about them.

Was it an underhanded tactic? Yes, but he _was_ a shinobi; it was in his job description to be sneaky.

And children were so much easier to read than adults.

Not to mention far more like to accidentally blurt out the truth.

"So, do you boys play Shogi?" Shikaku inquired lazily as the four of them finally reached the house.

"Shogi's boring," Uzumaki stated with obvious distaste to Shikamaru and Shikaku's disappointment. "I prefer playing Table War."

"The card game?"

"Yeah, only bigger and better," Uzumaki agreed enthusiastically.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked; his curiosity peeked by what sounded like an unfamiliar combination strategy and chance game.

"We play with four decks of cards, a full set of poker chips, and two or more full sets of Shogi or Go pieces," Haruo answered as he pulled his attention away from the sparsely blooming winter lilies and early tulips in the flower beds that sat in front of the veranda. "We named it Table War because we pretend to fight over who owns the tabletop but we play on the floor sometimes too."

"How does that work?"

"Well, we start by dividing the table up into sections using tape and a bit of string; one section for each player. The game pieces then become our armies and each player gets a different color; we put colored stickers on the Shogi pieces so we can tell them apart. The poker chips represent attacks; red for fire, blue for water, white for wind, orange for earth, yellow for lightning, green for healing, and black for weapons. The cards are then mixed up and each player draws a single card to determine which 'suit' or color they are playing. After that the cards are reshuffled and dealt between the players."

"We then each flip a card into the center of the table and the number of the card tells you how many soldiers you're allowed to move and the suit tells you which army you are attacking or if it comes up with your suit, you get to heal the same number of soldiers as the number on the card or make them retreat if they are in trouble. If you pull a free suit, then you are free to attack or retreat on any front with the number of soldiers determined by the card. Attack chips are only used when a face card is dealt and the attack you are allowed to use is based on the suit; hearts for fire or lighting, clubs for wind, spades for earth, diamonds for water, and jokers for weapons."

"When two players draw a card with each other's suit or color on it, then they have a battle using the number of soldiers on the card they drew. The person with the higher number or stronger attack (if they drew face cards) wins and the difference between the two cards is how many soldiers the loser of the battle loses to the other player. If both cards are the same number, then it's a stalemate and they have to draw a second card and add the numbers together to get the total number of soldiers that will fight in the battle."

"That sounds rather complicated and confusing," Shikamaru complained half-heartedly.

"No, it's easier than playing Shogi; there're no rules to memorize, you don't have to worry about specific moves, and you can be a lot more creative in how you attack the other players," Uzumaki countered with childish conviction.

"It also sounds like a rather interesting way to practice addition and subtraction, memorize the different elemental strengths and weaknesses, and learn battlefield tactics," Shikaku noted with some surprise as he analyzed what little he'd learned about the game from Haruo's explanation. "How do you determine the winner? What happens to the captured soldiers? And who claims the cards that have been played?"

"The winner is the one that owns the largest bit of table at the end of the game or the person with the largest army and the most 'land' if we quit in the middle of a game. The captured soldiers are retired to the 'graveyard'. And no one claims the cards."

"What happens when you run out of cards in the middle of a game?" Shikamaru asked curiously as Shikaku opened the door to usher the three boys in the house.

"All of the cards get reshuffled and dealt out to those players still in the game," Haruo answered as he glanced in the direction of the kitchen before toeing off his shinobi sandals and glancing around the entryway.

"How does a player get knocked out of the game?"

"When they lose the last of their 'land' or if their last 'soldier' is captured."

"How long does a game usually last?"

"A couple of hours if we just want a quick game and it's just the two of us playing but they can go on for days if we have more players or if neither one of us want to give up in the middle of the game," Uzumaki replied as he just sort of stood by the door looking rather nervous. "There was one time where a single game lasted for almost an entire month because Haruo really wanted to beat Koneko-chan for once."

"Who is Koneko?" Shikaku inquired with a slight frown as he tried to recall where and when he'd heard that particular name being used in the past few years.

"Is that you, Shikaku?" Yoshino inquired from the kitchen before either boy could answer the question.

"Yes, dear; our guests were just regaling me with the details about a curious game they invented," Shikaku replied as he suppressed a smirk and silently started counting.

He was rewarded on the count of three when the sound of a crash and faint cursing drifted into the entryway from the kitchen. Less than a minute later, his wife stepped into the small hallway that led away from the front door; her long hair in slight disarray and tempura batter and flour splattered on her hands and shirt. The brief look she shot Shikamaru was a clear indication that their son was in for a lecture on the proper timing and fair warning of impending guests.

"Hello, I am Nara Yoshino, welcome to our home," Yoshino greeted warmly as she turned to smile at their two guests.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo," Uzumaki greeted in return as he flashed Yoshino a smile in return from over top of the large bowlful of flowers he was carrying. "And this is my best friend, Haruo." He then thrust the bowl of flowers out towards Yoshino as he blurted out, "We brought these flowers for you."

"You boys shouldn't have spent all your money just to bring me so many rare and beautiful flowers," Yoshino gently chided even as she accepted the collection of lilies and tulips.

"We didn't buy them; Haruo grew them in his garden," Uzumaki assured her with obvious pride over his friend's gardening skills.

"Did you really?" Yoshino asked in surprise as she focused her attention on the silent child that had been watching her like a hawk since the moment she appeared.

"Aa, I like to grow things, Nara-san," Haruo replied as he glanced up to meet her gaze and Shikaku arched an eyebrow as his wife immediately began cooing over the green-eyed gaki despite having just met him.

"Well aren't you just the sweetest young man. Is it just flowers that you like to grow?"

"No, I have all kinds of stuff growing in my garden. We brought you fresh veggies and fruit too. I also bought all the stuff I need to make a strawberry and kiwi-stuffed shortcake. Do you think I can borrow your kitchen to make it?"

"So precious and precocious and willing to cook too; you truly are a little treasure," Yoshino giggled as she stepped back and half turned towards the kitchen. "Come with me, Haruo-kun, I'll show you where everything is."

"I can't believe that just happened," Shikamaru stated as Yoshino and Haruo disappeared into the kitchen. "Okaasan didn't even pull me aside to lecture me in a fierce whisper like she normally would."

"Stuff like that happens to Haruo all the time; though, he usually drags me along if anyone tries to drag him off to their home," Uzumaki stated as he finally toed off his sandals. "The only reason he didn't this time is because you invited both of us and I'm terrible at cooking and baking. The only things I can make are steamed rice and vegetables or instant ramen. So, Haruo cooks most of our food since it's just the two of us living in our apartment."

"The Koneko person you spoke of earlier isn't your guardian?" Shikaku fished as they migrated towards the kitchen so that Shikamaru could deliver his mother's groceries and so the two Nara could observe the strange effect that the green-eyed Genin had on Yoshino.

The blond half shook his head in a negative response at the same time as he opened his mouth to reply only for him to suddenly freeze and snap his mouth shut as a small frown formed on his face. If Shikaku had to guess, he would say the twelve year old was confused or uncertain. It was rather telling behavior as it indicated that this 'Koneko' person was a rather significant figure in their lives but that he probably wasn't an official guardian; therefore making it rather difficult for the boy to explain exactly who or what he was to them.

After a few minutes, Uzumaki finished shaking his head as he stated, "Koneko-chan is Koneko-chan. He's always been around for as long as I remember; him and Inu-chan, Neko-chan, Yagi-san, Karasu-chan, and Taka-san."

Shikaku immediately recognized those five names as the code names for five of the six members of the ANBU squad that the Sandaime had assigned to watch over Uzumaki after his second birthday. That knowledge actually triggered his memory of when and where he'd first heard the name Koneko-chan; he'd heard Inu calling Kuma that during one of their many debriefings. Shikaku now suspected that the nick-name had originated with one of his current guests and not Inu as he'd originally believed.

That newfound knowledge made Shikaku wonder just how close those six had gotten to their young charge and his little friend. A small smirk twisted his lips as he theorized that it was far closer than the six ANBU Guards had previously admitted to getting to the boys during their weekly reports over the years. That realization made him wonder if it had been those six that had given the two boys their extracurricular training. If that turned out to be the case, then he knew had no cause to worry about their motives; those six were unquestioningly loyal to the village and the Sandaime.

It was at that point that Shikaku, Shikamaru, and Uzumaki reached the kitchen and the two Nara males stopped short as they observed the unbelievable phenomenon taking place inside Yoshino's domain. If there was one room that the two Nara males were not allowed to mess around in, it was the kitchen; Yoshino did not tolerate anyone despoiling her work space with their messes. And yet, the woman merely stood there _smiling_ as she watched the green-eyed Genin take over _her_ kitchen. She even deigned to help him make messes as she pulled out spoons, spatulas, and measuring cups.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled warily as he furtively slipped into the room to deposit his burden on an empty stretch of counter. "Here's the stuff you asked for, kaasan."

"Arigatou, Shikamaru; now shoo," Yoshino absently replied as she waved both her hands at Shikamaru in a shooing motion before she began digging through the basket and bag while leaving Haruo completely unsupervised.

"Troublesome," Shikaku agreed as he tried to decide if he should be amused by his wife's antics or worried for his future as he began thinking about the potential repercussions of the woman becoming attached to the diminutive orphan.

"Tousan, does okaasan know that she'll have to adopt Naruto now that she's pretty much adopted Haruo?" Shikamaru inquired in a disgruntled tone as he made a face at the domestic scene unfolding in the kitchen.

Haruo snapped his head up to stare wide-eyed at Shikamaru for a split second (an indication that he'd heard the question) before his eyes darted sideways to Uzumaki. He then twisted around to watch Yoshino for a moment as she deftly began preparing the shrimp and fish for supper. When the eleven year old returned his gaze to the three hovering in the door, his eyes were dancing with amusement and mischief.

"Does that mean that I get to see the deer now?"

"No," Shikaku automatically replied and then immediately twitched when Haruo's mischievous expression melted into what most women would term an adorable pout that in turn made his wife irritated with him.

Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Shikaku made a strategic withdrawal (read ran for his life) in order to escape whatever punishment his wife could think up. It also saved him from the inexplicable urge he felt to give in and take the gaki to see the deer. He would end up hiding in his study, pretending to tackle the huge pile of paperwork he'd been avoiding, until he was called for supper a few minutes after six. In actuality, he spent that time writing out the rules and game play instructions for 'Table War' in an effort to analyze both the game and the lessons he suspected the game was intended to teach.

Supper provided Shikaku another opportunity to learn more about his guests. The nervous energy that surrounded both boys was a clear indication that this had been the first time that either of them had been invited to another's house for a simple meal. Uzumaki was especially twitchy, though he did a half decent job of hiding it behind his usual brashness.

He also learned that both boys would not hesitate to step in or speak up on behalf of one another any time one of them grew uncomfortable with any given topic. That behavior made it quite obvious that the two boys could read one another without even trying and that they were familiar enough with each other's triggers to anticipate which topics would cause the most discomfort and use that knowledge to steer the conversation in a different direction whenever possible. Shikaku didn't find that revelation to be all that surprising though since he'd known the two boys were very close according to Inoichi and rumors.

After they had finished eating and devoured a helping of the delicious cake that Haruo had talked Yoshino into letting him bake, Shikaku and the boys were shooed from the kitchen by Yoshino so she could start cleaning up. The four of them would end up on the porch outside his office; Shikaku lazily propped up against the rail and the three kids sprawled out on the porch around a chalk circle divided into three sections. Off to one side, there was a large pile of cards, Shogi pieces, and poker chips.

Shikaku wasn't really surprised to learn that Shikamaru and Uzumaki had spent the afternoon preparing everything they needed to play Table War; his son liked to be challenged. Or rather, he liked to be intellectually challenged; physical challenges merely inspired him to complain and grumble about slave drivers.

Over the next two hours, Shikaku watched his son barely hold his own against the other two boys; the mismatched pair clearly holding the advantage due to their long familiarity with their self-invented game. The only thing that prevented Shikamaru from getting completely trounced was the fact that he was constantly thinking up new plans and the game had an element of chance that allowed him occasional breathing room. The fast pace of the game and the fact that all three players moved simultaneously worked against him though; because he wasn't able to stop and study the board like he could during a Shogi game.

It was actually rather amusing to watch; since his son was usually very good at strategy games. It was also somewhat depressing to watch because it looked far too much like they were waging an actual war; children should not be taught how to wage war before they'd even reached puberty.

At the same time, those three boys were not just children; they were shinobi.

It was their job to make war.

And it was his job to send them out there to do it.

Some days, he really hated his job. Sighing, Shikaku pulled his eyes from the pretend war being waged on his porch and tipped his head back so he could stare up at the stars.

After the second hour of their game, Shikamaru carefully drew out a copy of the current 'board' so that they could pick up their game from where they'd left off another time (Shikamaru did not like to leave a game unfinished) before the three of them cleaned up the pieces. Shikamaru would then escort his guests off of the Estate while Shikaku collected his Shogi board and set up a new game for him and his son to play when he returned. Nearly an hour later, Shikaku was beginning to suspect that his son was avoiding him since it was only a seven minute leisurely walk from their house to the torii gate.

He was just wondering if he would need to actually hunt him down so he could quiz him about what he'd learned from their guests when a disgruntled Shikamaru finally turned up. Before Shikaku could even think to ask him what was wrong, Shikamaru opened his mouth to complain, "Rikumaru managed to get out of the pasture _again_."

"You've never complained much about his antics in the past," Shikaku pointed out as he idly made his opening move.

"He's also never tried to adopt an outsider before either," Shikamaru sniped back in an aggrieved tone as he moved in turn. "He kept trying to drag Haruo deeper into the grounds."

"Nani…?" Shikaku demanded as he snapped his eyes up to his son in shock.

"Rikumaru was waiting for us at the gate and the moment he caught sight of Haruo, the troublesome stag walked right up to him and greeted him like an old friend. The annoying deer then tried to prevent Haruo from leaving the Estate while at the same time treating him like a fawn as he tried to herd him into the trees. He let Haruo _pet_ him, tousan."

Shikaku froze as he attempted to wrap his mind around the idea that one of the deer, the dominate stag on the grounds no less, treated an outsider with anything other than hostility. Narrowing his eyes, he brought his hands together to disrupt his chakra in an attempt to dispel a genjutsu because he could not believe that this was reality after hearing the words that had poured forth from his son's mouth.

"I'm not a genjutsu, tousan," Shikamaru deadpanned as he glanced up from the Shogi board with a scowl.

"I was just making sure; Rikumaru doesn't usually play nice with strangers."

"I know that. I originally thought Naruto and Haruo were trying to play a prank on me."

"How did Rikumaru react around Uzumaki?"

"He bellowed at him once in warning when he got a little too close but otherwise ignored him."

"Walk me through your day," Shikaku ordered as he digested the fact that the stag had not attacked Uzumaki outright the moment he sensed the Kyuubi's presence in boy. Though, now that he thought about, Shikaku hadn't actually been able to sense the presence of the Kyuubi beneath Uzumaki's chakra like he clearly recalled sensing the bijuu's chakra beneath Kushina's chakra back when the kunoichi had still been alive. He chalked it up to the effectiveness of the Yondaime's seal a moment later and refocused on his son as he waited for him to give his report.

Instead of complying, Shikamaru asked, "Who is in charge of overseeing the Academy's curriculum?"

"The Hokage's Advisory Council and the Head of the Academy; why?"

"Do you have a list of everything that they are supposed to teach the students? And can I see it?"

"Will you tell me why you are suddenly so interested in the material that you were supposed to have learned over the past four years?"

"I need to find out just how much of the information and skills on that list our instructors failed to teach our class."

"What do you mean?"

"Naruto and Haruo revealed that there was a significant gap between their skill levels and the skill levels of their two teammates despite the fact that all four of them went through the same classes together. And it was not Naruto or Haruo who are behind despite the fact that Naruto some how ended up being mislabeled as the dead last of our class."

Shikaku wondered why he hadn't already heard about the discrepancies in the class material taught to the most recent graduates from the Academy before he realized that report must still be buried on his desk somewhere; unless no one had reported the problem yet. It was also possible that that was something that would be brought up at the next monthly council meeting since it was the council that was in charge of ensuring that the Academy was running smoothly. In the mean time, it was probably best that he go over the curriculum with his son so he would know what aspects of his son's training were lacking.

"We can take a look at it right now," Shikaku finally stated as he abandoned the game they'd mostly been ignoring since Shikamaru had returned from escorting his guests out.

By the time that they finished comparing what Shikamaru had learned against what he was supposed to have learned, Shikaku was more than a little angry. His clan helped to fund the Academy (as did the rest of Konoha's clans) and in exchange for that funding, the Academy was supposed to teach the clan's children the general basics in order to allow the older members of the clan more time to fulfill their duties to the village. And someone had dared to sabotage his heir's education in addition to the education of at least six children from the other clans; a few of which were also heirs.

The only question was whether or not earlier graduates had been similarly sabotaged. If they had been, then they would need to figure out just how long it had been going on and who exactly was doing it. It was possible that Mizuki had been the one responsible but he couldn't have possibly worked alone all this time; not on such a large scale. That meant that there was another traitor in a high enough job that he or she had been able to cover for Mizuki. There was also the fact that the Advisory Council was supposed to oversee the Academy in conjunction with the Academy Head to ensure that things like this didn't happen.

So why in the hell hadn't they caught onto the fact that someone had messed with the Academy's Syllabus?

Shikaku didn't know but he was sure the hell going to find out come hell or high water.

It would be months before Shikaku realized that he'd completely forgotten about his desire to get a few answers about the mysteries surrounding Uzumaki Naruto and Haruo in the face of more pressing concerns.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Arigatou – thank you  
Okaasan/kaasan – mother  
Otousan/tousan – father  
Nani – what  
Shika – deer

**Notes:**

Strawberry &amp; Kiwi Stuffed Shortcake – This is another one of my personal creations and it consists of diced strawberries and kiwis sweetened with a bit of sugar and stirred into vanilla yogurt, whipped cream, or a combo of both before it is stuffed inside of a shortcake, sponge cake, or angel cake (bundt cake 'form' that has been sliced horizontally in half with troughs cut into both top and bottom to make the inside 'hollow') and frosted over with whipped cream or cream cheese icing of a vanilla-ish flavor. Very tasty no matter which kind of cake or icing you choose to use.

An alternate form is to replace the fruit stuffing w/ ice cream to make an ice cream cake. You could also do a strawberry and banana version as well and swap the vanilla flavored icing out for a banana-ish flavored icing. You could also use a 'jelly roll' type cake instead of the bundt cake as well; though I hate making those because my cakes always fall apart when I 'roll' them.

Table War – this is a game that I invented when I originally wrote this chapter to give another example of the games that Haruo &amp; Naruto come up with to turn their lessons into something a little more fun. In this case, the game was meant to cover those points that Shikaku mentioned within the chapter in addition to get both boys to make snap decision, teach them how to multi-task, and get them to memorize details with little time (since they have to keep track of their soldiers and their 'property lines').

* * *

**AN:** _And before anyone reviews to complain that I cut Shikaku out of those in the know; please remember that Kasai was against revealing Harry/Haruo's history to anyone and that he was annoyed when Haruo made friends with Naruto. It wasn't that they didn't trust Shikaku; it was that they didn't want to spread the knowledge anymore than they already had at that point. Will Shikaku learn the truth about Haruo later? Yes. They can't hide his dual heritages forever._

_ANYhow, this chapter was mostly about presenting the PoV of a character that was not in the know about Haruo's history and abilities; though he obviously knows more than Shikamaru since Inoichi did share some stuff with him. There was also other important information presented in this chapter that will be important later on but that's all I'm going to say about that for now. ~ Jenn_

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	16. R J Lupin

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: R. J. Lupin

_April 02, 1990, 6:55 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Tenzou silently nodded to the masked Hayate as his teammate relieved him from duty before he sank through the floor in order to exit the Hokage's Tower unseen. Once he reached the ground floor, he slipped through the walls until he reached the hidden entrance to the ANBU Tunnels that ran underneath the Tower. After checking to make certain that no one was watching, Tenzou stepped out of the wall and sank through the hidden trapdoor into the tunnel below. His feet hit the dirt a few minutes later and Tenzou paused to listen for anything out of the ordinary before he headed towards headquarters.

He'd barely set foot in the building before he was waylaid by Yuugao in her Neko mask who promptly stated, "Kasai wants to see you in his office."

Tenzou silently acknowledged the summons with a brief salute that his only female teammate returned before the two of them split up; Yuugao heading out for the evening shift of wall duty while Tenzou headed for Kasai's office. As he ghosted through the hallways, Tenzou couldn't help but wonder why Kasai wanted to see him. He really hoped that his son hadn't gotten into trouble again; Kasai was still riding his ass about his son's involvement in the Mizuki Incident a few months back.

The Tokubetsu Jounin reached Kasai's office a couple of minutes later and he knocked sharply on the door before he entered the room. He'd barely crossed the room to stand in front of the desk when Kasai glanced up at him from his paperwork.

"Oh, good; you're here," Kasai rumbled as he grabbed hold of a mission scroll and tossed it at Tenzou's head. "An escort mission came in from the Outer Countries for you. You leave first thing tomorrow morning; details are in the scroll."

"Wakatta, Kasai-sama," Tenzou replied as he disabled the seal on the scroll and skimmed through the contents until he reached the name of the client. As soon as he read the name, Tenzou felt a mix of anger and unease settle in his stomach like a rock. Clenching his jaw, Tenzou glanced up at his commander to ask, "Kasai-sama, are you aware that the client for this mission, one R. J. Lupin, is potentially the same man that paid for the assassination mission that led to the discovery of my son?"

Kasai froze with his hand half stretched out towards the tower of incomplete paperwork stacked on the edge of his desk. He withdrew his hand a moment later as he glanced up to meet Tenzou's gaze as he answered, "No, I had not realized that; I didn't bother to cross reference past missions when the escort request came across my desk. What do you know about the man?"

"Nothing; I've never met him face to face."

"He and his friend initially requested asylum in Konoha and after a few exchanges with the Hokage, the two of the applied for citizenship instead. Their applications were sent through Intel and tentatively approved last month. Do you believe the man might be a threat to your son?"

"I don't know but I'm not certain that I'm willing to trust him."

"We've already received payment on the mission," Kasai stated after a moment. "So you will need to at least meet with this R. J. Lupin in person. Once you meet up with him and his friend, you can assess their intentions and if they prove to be a threat to the village or your son, you are authorized to kill them to prevent future attempts to infiltrate the village. I suggest that you speak to Inoichi before you leave in order to see if he has any information on the man from your son's earliest memories."

"Hai," Tenzou replied before he asked, "How do you want me to handle the mission if it turns out that the man and his friend are fully trained Trueborns? A possibility that I believe should be considered if only because of the circumstances under which I'd been paid upon the completion of my last mission for a client named R. J. Lupin."

Kasai drummed his fingers on his desk as he considered the question for a moment before he replied, "Treat them like any other potential threat. If they pass your test and prove themselves not to be a threat, any skills they have as potential Trueborns would be a boon to the village and they could, in time, train your son to use his mahou." Kasai then snatched up the ANBU Active Duty Roster and skimmed the schedule for a moment before he added, "I want you to take Yagi and Karasu with you for backup."

"Wakatta."

"Was there anything else you needed?"

"No."

"Then you're dismissed."

Tenzou nodded sharply before he turned on his heel and left the office. He then made his way to his assigned quarters within ANBU Headquarters. Once he reached his room, Tenzou stopped long enough to create a Moku Bunshin that he sent off to track down Namiashi Raidou (Yagi) and Shiranui Genma (Karasu) and inform them that Kasai had chosen them as his partners for the mission. As soon as his clone disappeared to carry out its assigned orders, Tenzou slipped into his room and headed for the locker holding his extra supplies so he could pack.

When he finished packing, he stripped out of his uniform and took a quick shower before getting dressed in a clean uniform. He had just settled his ANBU mask back over his face when there was a knock on his door and Tenzou called out, "Come in."

The door opened a split second later to reveal his longtime teammates, Raidou and Genma. Both men pulled off their masks the moment the door swung shut behind them and Tenzou didn't hesitate to remove his again as well.

"Your clone said Kasai gave us a mission?" Raidou inquired as he reached rub to idly rub at the keloid scar that started on the bridge of his nose and ran diagonally across his left cheek towards his jaw line.

"Aa, we're to meet a pair of potential immigrants from the Outer Countries looking to relocate to Konoha," Tenzou replied as he tossed the mission scroll to his teammates. "However, there's a chance that one or both men are a potential threat as our client, R. J. Lupin, is possibly the same man that paid for the mission that led me to my son."

"Which country are we headed to?" Genma asked as he leaned over Raidou's shoulder to read through the mission details.

"England."

"When do we leave?" Raidou asked as he finished with the scroll and tossed it back to Tenzou after checking to see if Genma had finished reading it as well.

"Sunrise, tomorrow morning," Tenzou replied as he tucked the scroll into his mission pack in case he needed it for a reference once they arrived in England.

"We'll meet you at the eastern tunnel in the morning then," Genma promised as slipped his mask back onto his face before he and Raidou left the room together.

As soon as he was alone, Tenzou let out a sigh as he set his mission pack down beside the door where it would be easy to grab on his way out in the morning. Next, he stepped over to his desk to dig out the next training scroll that he'd written up for Haruo and tucked it into his pocket and replaced his mask. The twenty-six year old then headed out of the building so he could hunt down his son to hand over the scroll and say his goodbyes. Since it was Monday evening and he knew Kakashi only kept his students out training until about six on Monday nights, Tenzou checked the boys' apartment first.

He was in luck, Naruto and Haruo had just gotten home from the looks of it and he carefully phased through the wall of the kitchen in order to avoid the traps that he knew the two boys had rigged up around the doors and windows. He still ended up getting hit in the face with a paint balloon as he stepped out of the wall inside of the room. He gave his son an unimpressed look for the prank attack but Haruo merely stuck his tongue out at him while Naruto snickered at him. At least his mask spared him from getting paint in his eyes, nose, and mouth.

"Is there any particular reason why you felt the need to pelt me in the face with a paint balloon?" Tenzou asked as he used a pulse of chakra to remove the paint from his person.

"I didn't know it was you," Haruo sheepishly admitted as he reached up to rub the back of his head.

"How could you not know it was me? I know you can recognize my chakra signature and that you've increased your sensory range over the past few months."

"I'm tired and didn't sense you; I just saw your foot coming out of the wall and tossed the first thing I could get my hands on," Haruo replied as he reached behind him to shut off the tea kettle that had just started to whistle.

"That's still no excuse not to be aware of enough of your surroundings to recognize the presence of friends or enemies."

Haruo sighed and nodded in response to the mild rebuke as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and a cup of ramen as he sat down. He then eyed the extra ramen cups he'd prepared before he asked, "Did you want some ramen, sensei-nii?"

"I suppose I have time for a cup or two while I'm here," Tenzou agreed as he reached up to remove his mask before he joined the two boys at the table and Haruo promptly slid an extra pair of chopsticks and two of the soup cups towards him.

"Are you just checking up on us again or are you leaving on another mission?" Naruto asked in between his second and third cup of instant ramen.

"Both."

"How long are you going to be gone this time?" Haruo asked with a small frown.

"Between three and four weeks," Tenzou replied as he withdrew the scroll he'd brought with him and rolled it across the table towards his son. "Those are the instructions for the clone jutsu that you asked me to modify for you."

"Cool, thanks, sensei-nii," Haruo crowed with excitement as he abandoned his supper in favor of unrolling the scroll.

"You're welcome, Haruo; just make sure you leave my name out of it when Kakashi asks you who helped you create that particular version of the clone jutsu."

Naruto snorted in amusement as he scarfed down his final cup of ramen before he drawled, "I thought you said pranking was unprofessional behavior for a shinobi."

"I'm not helping you prank anyone. I'm merely expanding my son's jutsu repertoire."

"And you're still mad at Kakashi-sensei for reading his book where I could see it last month," Haruo retorted around a laugh as he rerolled the scroll and tucked it into his pocket.

"Is he still doing that?"

"Nah, he sneaks off to read and leaves a clone to watch over us now," Naruto answered as Haruo resumed eating his neglected ramen.

"I suppose that's an improvement of sorts."

Both boys snickered in response to Tenzou's remark before Naruto got up to throw out his trash. The pre-teen then disappeared in order to allow Tenzou a little time alone with his son. The Tokubetsu Jounin silently marveled over the blond's perceptiveness for a moment (an attribute of the boy's that had grown by leaps and bounds over the past six years) before he focused his attention on Haruo. At the moment, his son was toying with the noodles in his final cup of ramen and Tenzou suspected he was now sulking over the fact that he would be gone for a month.

"I'll be doing quite a bit of traveling on my mission," Tenzou announced in a thoughtful tone and he nearly grinned when his son glanced up at him with a puzzled expression.

"Can you tell me where you're going?"

"Outside," Tenzou revealed after a brief hesitation; his son was well aware that he occasionally took missions to the Outer Countries still. How could he not when it was one such mission that led to Tenzou finding his son? "Did you want me to bring you back anything new for your garden?"

Haruo immediately perked up at the prospect of adding a new plant or tree to the wild conglomeration of plant life he called a garden. He quickly finished his supper at that point before he dashed out of the room. When he returned a few minutes later, Haruo was carrying the large scroll that Tenzou knew held a hand drawn map of his garden labeled with the names of every single flower, shrub, vine, and tree that Haruo had planted to date. It also held an ever growing wish list of plants that he wanted to one day add to the garden.

Tenzou stood up to clear the rest of the trash off of the table and used a pulse of chakra to clean off the top of the table so that Haruo could set the scroll down without worrying about it getting ruined. He then helped his son unroll the scroll until they reached the wish list. Haruo would then spend the next twenty minutes pouring over the map and his wish list with an adorably serious expression on his face as he mumbled under his breath. The nine and a half year old looked more like a war general plotting his next move than a child eagerly picking out a prospective gift from afar.

Half of Tenzou hated that comparison while the rest of him was proud of his son. He hated seeing his son so serious because it was a reminder that his son had become a shinobi at the tender age of nine. And yet, he couldn't help but be proud of how much his son had grown over the past six, almost seven, years. Haruo still had a long ways to go though. Tenzou only wished his son wasn't in such a hurry to grow up. He was at least thankful that Haruo had had a better childhood than he himself had had.

"Could you bring me back a couple of figs or maybe a bit of English Ivy, sensei-nii?" Haruo asked; his voice drawing Tenzou's attention back to the present.

"I think I can manage that," Tenzou agreed after taking a moment to consider the availability of both fruit and vine in the area he would be meeting his client at.

Haruo grinned at him before he deftly rewound the garden scroll so it could be put away as he asked, "How much longer can you stay, sensei-nii?"

"I have to go now," Tenzou replied as he glanced up at the clock. "I have to speak with Inoichi tonight."

"Will I see you again before you go?"

"Probably not but if I finish up at a reasonable hour tonight, I will come back to say goodnight."

"Okay," Haruo murmured as he turned to throw his arms around Tenzou.

Tenzou readily returned the hug after he peeled off the sap tag his son had just attached to his back and tossed it on the table. Haruo giggled in response to getting caught trying to prank him and Tenzou snorted as he broke their hug to ruffle the boy's hair. A heartbeat later, the Tokubetsu Jounin reluctantly slipped his mask back on before he left and headed to the Yamanaka Flower Shop in search of Inoichi. When he reached the popular little shop, Tenzou wasn't surprised to find the shop still open despite the late hour and he silently slipped inside to find Inoichi's daughter cleaning up the shelves.

The moment the bell attached to the door rang, Ino automatically greeted him with a well rehearsed, "Welcome to Yamanaka Flower Shop; how may I assist you?"

"I'm looking for your father, Yamanaka-chan; is he home?"

"Hai, ANBU-san," Ino replied as she finally looked up and noticed his mask. "He's in his office upstairs going over the books."

"Arigatou, Yamanaka-chan," Tenzou murmured in reply as he headed for the door that led deeper into store; the twenty-six year old well acquainted with the layout of the flower shop and a frequent enough visitor to not need an escort. He reached Inoichi's business office a moment later and rapped his knuckles on the door to announce his presence; though it was hardly necessary for him to do so since Inoichi had probably sensed his presence the moment he entered the shop.

"Come in, Kuma," Inoichi called out before Tenzou had finished knocking. The moment the Mokuton user stepped into the office and closed the door behind him, Inoichi looked up from the shop's account books to ask, "What can I do for you, Kuma?"

"Kasai-sama recommended that I speak to you about the early childhood memories you viewed of a certain little troublemaker before I leave in the morning."

"Which memories?" Inoichi prompted as he closed the book and gave Tenzou his complete attention.

"I'm looking for any information on a man by the name of R. J. Lupin during the period of time prior to his mother's death that you might have stumbled across when you first viewed his memories."

"I don't recall viewing anyone by the name of Lupin in his memories. The only individuals mentioned by name aside from his parents were an Uncle Moony, an Uncle Wormtail, and an Uncle Padfoot. Furthermore, Uncle Padfoot was also the name of a large black dog that his mother and stepfather left to keep an eye on the boy; I believe the dog to have belonged to the man who went by the name of Uncle Padfoot since the only time the dog was present was when the man was around but the two never appeared in the same memory at the same time so I could be wrong."

"Didn't the toads mention something about those with the same inborn abilities as the little troublemaker being able to transform themselves into animals?" Tenzou inquired with a small frown.

"Yes, but I saw no proof of that in the memories I viewed."

"Will you show me the memories of all three men and the dog?"

"Yes, go ahead and sit down and I will give you a copy of those memories now," Inoichi replied as he stood up and walked around the desk. "Is there any particular reason why you're looking for information on this R. J. Lupin person?"

"He's a return client that's looking for asylum in Konoha for himself and a friend by the name of S. A. Black. I believe he's the same client that had paid for the assassination mission that led me to the discovery of the little troublemaker I mentioned earlier. The name is the same, at least."

"Ah, I can see why you would be concerned," Inoichi replied as he placed his hand on Tenzou's head without bothering to wait for the Tokubetsu Jounin to take off his mask. A brief flare of Inoichi's chakra accompanied by a brief spike of pain was soon followed by a short series of foreign memories burrowing themselves into Tenzou's mind. "Was that all you needed?"

"I think so," Tenzou replied as he mentally reviewed the memories he'd just been given once the pain had faded.

"You said you were leaving tomorrow?"

"Aa."

"How long do you anticipate the mission will take?"

"A minimum of twenty-one days. Possibly longer if both men clear the initial assessment."

"I'll make certain to keep my schedule free for the last half of the month then; since I imagine that Kasai will want me to do the final assessments on the two men myself if they turn out to have anything in common with our troublesome little friend."

"If I do escort them back, I'll send word ahead once we reach Port City to give you a few days to prepare for them."

"I would appreciate that," Inoichi replied as he returned to his seat. "Does our little friend know you're going to be gone on an extended mission?"

"Yes, I stopped by to see him before I came looking for you."

"How is he handling life as a Genin? I haven't really seen him since the graduation mess back in December."

"Both boys are thriving on the challenge and their usual targets are breathing easier thanks to their busy schedule."

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Inoichi retorted with a snort of amusement. "Has he given you any grief now that he knows who you are to him?"

"He did for all of one day back in December but after that blow up things went back to pretty much how they were before he knew about our relationship. The only real difference is that he's a little more affectionate now when we're in the privacy of their apartment. He's also more willing to threaten his sensei with my temper if his sensei annoys him."

"That's good to hear; I had originally been concerned that he might hold a grudge against you for withholding that information for so long."

"He probably would have chosen to hold a grudge if I hadn't taken an active interest in his life right from the start."

"That was probably one of the reasons why his mother warned me that you would need to be part of his life," Inoichi mused thoughtfully before he glanced at the clock. "Well, if there's nothing else, I should probably let you go; I need to finish balancing the books for the day and you probably have better things to do."

"Thank you for the information, Inoichi," Tenzou murmured as he climbed to his feet and bowed to the older man.

"You're welcome, Kuma."

Tenzou left the shop three minutes later and headed back to Haruo and Naruto's apartment as promised since it hadn't taken him anywhere near as long to hunt down Inoichi as he anticipated it might. He found the two boys sitting in the middle of their living room playing a quick and dirty game of Table War. The moment they noticed his presence, they scrapped their game and reset the table before they begged Tenzou to play with them. Tenzou agreed fairly quickly; he actually enjoyed playing the game with the two boys; though you'd never get him to admit that out loud.

After trouncing both boys with a few slight of hand tricks and a genjutsu or two (there were no rules against cheating and it wasn't his fault they didn't pay close enough attention to his hands), Tenzou bid the pair goodnight. He then wandered off in the direction of Kakashi's apartment to inform his former captain about his pending absence (so Kakashi wouldn't expect Tenzou to turn up to train Haruo on his days off like he usually did). He also made certain to remind the older man what he would do to him if he further corrupted his son's innocence with his perverted little smut books before he returned to headquarters to get some sleep.

He would be up an hour before dawn the next morning in order to check his supplies one last time before he ghosted through the near empty hallways of headquarters as he made his way to the underground tunnels leading to the eastern exit where he was supposed to meet with his partners. Raidou and Genma would join him roughly ten minutes after he arrived and the three of them silently slipped out of the tunnels, easily passed through the traps protecting the entrance, and took to the trees the moment they crossed through the protective wall surrounding Konoha.

The three of them would make good time to Port City where they would take the time to ditch their masks and disguise their faces before they caught a ship that would carry them to the point where the Great Barrier separating the Elemental Nations from the rest of the world could be crossed through the use of transport seals. There were two dozen such transport seals and each one was set to a single destination. The one the trio used dropped them off in southern Spain where they would catch another ship up the coast to London, England.

It was a trip that Tenzou had made numerous times over the past ten years (though the number of missions he had that took him to England were few and far between). Normally, it was a trip that he made alone as missions to the Outer Countries were typically considered solo missions due to the high risks of getting caught by the local governments. And the fewer warm bodies available for capture meant that there were fewer chances for the world at large to learn of the existence of the Elemental Nations.

Sure, they had contacts situated in every country (to facilitate mission requests from potential clients) but those contacts were protected by specialized seals that would prevent them from squealing like stuck pigs if caught. Most of the contacts were actually shinobi that had fallen love with an Outsider and chose to live Outside rather than bring their chosen spouse back to the Elemental Nations. The children of such unions were usually groomed to follow in their shinobi parent's footsteps as a future contact or brought back to the Elemental Nations for training if they were born with a Kekkei Genkai.

There was also an unspoken agreement amongst all of the Hidden Villages that maintained contacts Outside to never attack or harm each other's Outside contacts lest it draw the wrong kind of attention to the Elemental Nations. The only exception was if a specific contact was found to be spreading information to the wrong sort. Those traitors were summarily executed the moment they were discovered along with any one they'd had contact with to prevent the spread of sensitive information. (Of course, that didn't stop the villages from targeting each other's active shinobi that crossed the Barrier if they crossed paths and were not on friendly terms with each other's village.)

In the decade since Tenzou had been taking missions, there had only been one traitorous contact (originating from Kirigakure) and the example that had been made of him had discouraged anyone else from following in his footsteps.

Those Outsiders that fell in love with a shinobi and willingly moved to the Elemental Nations would, in turn, usually become agents for their new homes and acted as the go-betweens for the contacts Outside and the village leader of the Hidden Village located in the country where they settled down. Their children were then offered a chance to either join the village's shinobi force or be trained as a future Outside Contact or Inside Agent.

Any children that were produced through a less permanent relationship (such as in Haruo's case) were usually carefully monitored for any signs of a Kekkei Genkai or overly large chakra reserves that would attract attention. That job usually fell to the Outside Contacts, though those shinobi who slept with Outsiders on missions also frequently checked up on their sexual partners whenever they had a chance to make certain a child of theirs didn't slip through the cracks.

Haruo had actually been one of those cases that slipped through the cracks because Tenzou had never seen Lily again and therefore never learned about his son until he came face to face with him three years later. The fact that there was no record of Tenzou's son amongst his contacts actually made it far easier for Haruo to simply disappear into the Elemental Nations with little to no fuss. It also meant that it was far easier to hide the fact that Haruo had been born Outside due to that same lack of records.

The sudden reappearance of one R. J. Lupin, if he was indeed the same man, threatened the extra layer of security that anonymity had provided Haruo for the last six years.

It was the potential threat to his son that prompted Tenzou to see his client as a possible enemy.

The moment the trio of shinobi set foot in London near midnight on the thirteenth of April, they made their way to the designated meeting place in order to scout the area and set up an ambush. The meeting place was to be a small, unnamed park located in an older residential area along a street called Grimmauld Place. The park itself was rather run down and neglected and therefore a place that was typically avoided by the locals. It was fairly easy for the three shinobi to slip into the park unnoticed just a few hours after they had arrived in London.

After searching the area for potential traps, Raidou and Genma then took up positions in the trees while Tenzou created a Moku Bunshin to play decoy while he hid himself inside of a tree. They'd barely been waiting for two hours before a man that looked like an older version of 'Uncle Moony' from Haruo's earliest memories strolled into the park with a bedraggled dog that looked something like the dog named 'Uncle Padfoot' stumbling along at his heels. Man and dog wasted no time in approaching Tenzou's wood clone; identifying themselves as Tenzou's client.

As soon as the man reached out to shake the clone's hand, the three shinobi sprang their trap. Raidou and Genma dropped down to subdue the man while Tenzou burst free from the tree and wrapped the dog up in his Mokuton to prevent it from attack or barking up a storm. The entire fight lasted less than twenty seconds because neither the man nor the dog resisted. Unsheathing his sword, Tenzou walked up to the man who had identified himself as Remus Lupin and planted the tip of his sword in the center of the man's jugular.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand, Lupin-san," Tenzou demanded in a low growl.

"Because if you kill me, little Harry will never forgive you for killing his Uncles Moony and Padfoot," Remus wearily replied as he fearlessly met Tenzou's gaze with amber tinted blue eyes. "Killing the two of us would also undo all of Lily's hard work to protect your son from those on this side of the Barrier that would use him for his fame and money."

"And the mission you paid me to complete six years ago? What purpose did that serve?"

"It eliminated a cruel woman that turned her dogs into vicious killers and presented you with an opportunity to save your son from an unpleasant situation."

"Why didn't you just save him yourself?"

"I don't know if you noticed them or not but there were special wards raised around your son's former home and because of what I am, those wards prevented me from entering the property."

"Why are you seeking to move to Konoha now? Why not when I completed your other mission?"

"Harry is fast approaching an age where his magic will need to be trained or he could potentially die in an uncontrolled burst of accidental magic due to how rapidly his core will began expanding at some point between his tenth and eleventh birthday. As for why I didn't seek asylum sooner…? It took me six years to extract Padfoot from prison where he was serving time for a crime he did not commit and I couldn't very well leave Harry's godfather behind to rot."

"You are a Trueborn Sage then? What your people would call a wizard?"

"Yes, as is the dog you've tied up in tree branches. Since he's supposed to be dead as of nine-fifty-three last night, he can't very well walk around showing his face or people will notice; hence the reason why he's masquerading as a mutt at the moment. I'm certain you have more questions and I will gladly answer then for you but this really isn't the place or time for us to discuss such sensitive information. Padfoot's family home is hidden just across the street from the park and we can finish our discussion there in safety. I'll even give you my wand, if it will make you feel more comfortable."

"That will be acceptable; however, if you should try to attack me or one of my companions, I will not hesitate to gut you where you stand. Right now, you are a loose end and a threat to my son and I will not allow you a single chance to harm him."

"You have my word that neither I nor Padfoot will seek to harm you, your companions, your son, or your village."

"Let him go," Tenzou instructed as he resheathed his sword and moved to free the dog from his Mokuton.

The three shinobi were then led across the street to a rather run down townhouse that appeared out of thin air once they crossed an invisible line. The trio then witnessed the dog transforming itself back into a man the moment they stepped inside of the decrepit building. The rest of the day would be spent holed up in the creepy old house listening to the two wizards explain the wizarding war, their relationships with James and Lily Potter, and everything that had happened in the wake of the Potters' murders.

By the time they'd finished explaining everything, Tenzou had come to the conclusion that they were telling the truth; mostly because their body language and facial expressions were easy to read. They had also provided several documents to support their story (though those could have been forged). In the end, Tenzou determined that benefits of taking the two back to Konoha outweighed the risks since he knew that Inoichi would be able to pick out any lies that they'd potentially missed.

The two wizards would take the rest of the night to prepare for their departure while the three shinobi rested and kept an eye on their clients. Sunrise the next morning would see the five of them heading for the docks to catch a ship headed back down the coast to Spain. Just before he boarded the ship, Tenzou purchased half a dozen fresh figs from the open market stalls that catered to tourists and dock workers to go with the bits of wild ivy his Moku Bunshin had collected from the park the previous night after he'd left it outside to monitor the area.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Ano – er/um/uh  
Arigatou – thank you  
Hai – yes  
Wakatta – I understand/understood

**Notes:**

Keloid scars – are scars where the skin has formed an irregular growth as the original wound healed instead of healing smoothly. Keloid scars can be rather disfiguring, depending on location and severity but they are benign. When I first saw Raidou's scar in the anime, I immediately thought keloid scar tissue because it reminded me of a few scars I've seen in R/L; hence why I called it one in this story.

Outside Contacts &amp; Outsider/Shinobi Relationships – Those of you who recall that Tenzou had believed that he could not have had a relationship w/ Lily because of who and what he was might raise a stink about what was revealed in this chapter about the Outside contacts and Outsider relationships and claim I just contradicted myself. So, to cut back on any potential flames or complaints, I will clarify the difference. Tenzou wasn't referring to the fact that he was shinobi when he was reflecting on the fact that he could not start a relationship w/ Lily; he was referring to his lifetime membership as a part of the ANBU Corps and his status as the only survivor of Orochimaru's experiments.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	17. Drunken Impressions

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Drunken Impressions

_April 20, 1990, 1:04 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Friday afternoon once again found Kakashi leading Team Seven into the Mission Assignment Room to pick up their sixteenth mission. Kakashi hadn't missed the fact that none of the four pre-teens were particularly eager to pick up their next mission; something that actually made Kakashi smirk. Not even Haruo showed any interest in going on another D-Rank Mission but that was probably because Kakashi had made it a point to avoid picking up gardening missions after that first one if he could.

It wasn't that he wanted to deny the kid a pleasurable activity, he didn't, but the gaki still had trouble reining in his use of the Mokuton when around plants. As a compromise, Kakashi had tried to pick up as many animal related missions but those weren't always as fun as they sounded on paper. That was especially true of the frequent mission to (re)capture Tora the [Demon] Cat.

That nasty little fleabag was the only animal that even Haruo hated with a passion. It was also the only animal to date that wanted absolutely nothing to do with Haruo (not counting those Inuzuka raised ninken that were bonded to their partners since they were loyal to a fault and raised not to stray without explicit permission from said partners – unbonded ninken loved Haruo, of course). There was something decidedly wrong with the feline when even the Nara Deer were considered friendlier than a pet cat.

Repeated exposure to Tora didn't seem to make any difference either; since her disposition hadn't improved any when they'd taken that mission for the third time just a week earlier.

If anything, she'd only grown worse each time she'd recognized them.

"If Kakashi-sensei makes us chase after Tora again, I'm going to tell sensei-nii that he's been reading Icha-Icha books in front of me again," Haruo threatened as he crossed his arms and glowered at Kakashi's back as the Jounin left his Genin to wait against the wall while he approached the Hokage to collect their next mission.

"Didn't Koneko-chan promise to pull his spleen out through his nose the next time he did that, Haruo?" Naruto asked as in return and Kakashi had to force himself not to wince since Tenzou had promised to do far worse than that if Kakashi in any way corrupted his son.

"Yep," Haruo confirmed in a tone that sounds far too gleeful to Kakashi's ears. "And he would deserve no less for siccing that demon cat on us a fourth time."

"True," Naruto sagely agreed and when Kakashi glanced over his shoulder to give them an unimpressed look he saw both of the troublemakers smirking at him; a clear indication that they both knew he'd heard their conversation. "Hey, if he gets us another D-Rank Mission, do you want to test the new version of the Bunshin Bakuha that you came up with on him?"

"I don't know; my Exploding Sap Clones are still unstable," Haruo countered after thinking about it for several seconds.

Kakashi couldn't quite stop the full body shudder that passed through him at the thought of Exploding Sap Clones; the Exploding Mud Clones had been bad enough. He was going to kill Tenzou if it turned out that the younger man was the one responsible for teaching the gaki to make clones out of the sap that the boys collected for their prank traps. Kakashi studiously ignored the fact that he'd upset the older Mokuton user after he'd taken to reading his Icha-Icha books while watching over the kids whenever Team Seven took a D-Ranked Mission.

He'd thought the gaki would be suitably occupied to get away with a little bit of reading to pass the time; apparently he'd misjudged their ability to stay focused on their task. Hence the reason for the threats from Tenzou.

Of course, that probably had more to do with the fact that Haruo had asked his father a number of very explicit questions about Kakashi's beloved books after the gaki had gotten a clear view of the covers on a couple of them. Tenzou had been more than a little upset about being required to give his son a 'watered down' version of 'the Talk' to his nine year old son. Kakashi didn't see what the fuss was; Jiraiya had given him the talk at age eight when he'd monitored Kakashi's training for a week while Minato-sensei had been off on a mission.

Though, now that he thought about it, Minato-sensei had been more than a little upset with Jiraiya about that. In any case, it's not like learning about puberty and sex early would hurt the gaki. It hadn't hurt Kakashi, after all. In fact, Kakashi believed having the talk early solved all kinds of issues because, really; how many other grown men were as comfortable with expressing their appreciation for the female body as he and Jiraiya were? Of course, he conveniently forgot that their 'comfortable' habits often angered the very women they appreciated.

The silver-haired Jounin soon pushed all thoughts of women and Tenzou's threats to the back of his mind as he stepped up to the desk to collect his team's next mission, "Hokage-sama, Team Seven is here to collect their next mission."

"Has it been a week already?" Sarutobi inquired as his eyes slipped passed Kakashi to rest on the quartet of Genin that were waiting back by the wall. "I suppose it has; time passes so quickly when your attention is trapped elsewhere. Well, which D-Ranked Mission did you want to take this time? I have a request to clear out and repair the rain gutters at the Central Orphanage. There's also another request to recapture Tora once again. And here's a request to help an elderly couple move from the Northern District to the Southeast District."

"Actually, Hokage-sama, I believe that Team Seven is ready to take their first C-Rank Mission," Kakashi interjected as he suppressed another shudder when he recalled Haruo's threat and Naruto's counter-threat after hearing the potential missions that were still available.

"Are you certain that's wise?" Sarutobi demanded a little sharply as he lowered the scroll from which he'd been reading off the available missions so he could meet Kakashi's gaze.

"They have the skills and while they aren't exactly the best of friends, they're more than capable of working as a team when it's required of them," Kakashi replied as he half turned so that he could study his Genin. "And a trip out of the village coupled with the small risk of running into a bandit or two might just be what it takes to finally bring all four of them closer together."

"But is the risk worth such a small gain?" Sarutobi persisted as Kakashi returned his gaze to the Hokage.

"I can't hide them away in the village forever, Hokage-sama; all four of them need that experience."

"True, but are you prepared to deal with the consequences should one of the boys slip up, Kakashi?"

"Yes."

"Very well, I will trust your judgment. And if it's bandits that you want to test them against, then I think I have just the mission; it's to escort a bridge builder back to Nami no Kuni and guard the bridge he is building from a group of bandits that have been harassing his workers."

"That sounds perfect; Nami is fairly close to Konoha and there'll be little to no risk of encountering foreign shinobi since they do not have a hidden village," Kakashi agreed as he accepted the mission scroll that the Hokage held out for him. "It should also be far enough away and exciting enough to spare me any training pranks for at least a week."

"You can expect the mission to last anywhere from two to four weeks; the bridge builder estimated that it would take him and his construction crew at least that long to complete the bridge," Sarutobi countered as he pointed his pen at the scroll in Kakashi's hand. "Though I imagine that the duration of the construction will depend on how quickly you can deal with the reported pest infestation."

"That's a little longer than I originally planed for them to spend outside on their first C-Rank but I suppose I can work around that and set them to training if they grow antsy later in the mission."

"You'll find your client waiting in the east lounge," Sarutobi stated as he crossed the bridge builder's mission off of his list to indicate that the mission had been assigned to a team. "Good luck with the mission, Kakashi; I think you're going to need it with those two along for the ride."

_No, I'm going to need that luck when Tenzou learns that I'm potentially taking his son out of the village for an entire month on his first C-Rank Mission when he isn't available to shadow us because he's out of the village on a mission,_ Kakashi countered mentally even as he saluted the Hokage before he meandered over to collect his precious little students. As soon as he reached the quartet, Kakashi clapped his hands together and announced, "Come along, my cute little students; we need to introduce you to our client before I send you off to pack for a month long trip to the sea-side."

"You're taking us out of the village?_ All_ of us?" Haruo inquired as his eyes grew really round before he shot a desperate glance in Naruto's direction; his entire body filled with obvious tension.

Kakashi arched his visible eyebrow in response the way the nine year old placed an emphasis on the word 'all' before he realized that Haruo probably feared that he would be left behind due to his age and how overprotective his father is of him. Once he realized what direction Haruo's directions were going in, Kakashi offered him an eye smile as he replied with, "Yes, _all_ four of you. We _are_ a team, after all."

Kakashi was happy to see the kid immediately relax in response to that answer before a blush spread across his cheeks when Naruto used the ANBU Sign Code to flash him a smug, '_I told you so_.'

A near-silent sigh escaped from Kakashi as he ushered his students out of the Mission Assignment Room; if only those two would open up to their other two teammates. Of course, Sasuke wasn't exactly making it any easier for them to tolerate the last Uchiha, let alone consider him a friend; what with the jealous and spiteful glares that Sasuke shot in Haruo's direction whenever the broody gaki didn't think Kakashi was watching. The twenty-eight year old had hoped that a friendly rivalry would develop between the three boys but that had not happened.

As he led the four Genin to the east lounge, Kakashi let his thoughts sift through the past three and a half months…

After they had completed their first mission, Kakashi had immediately cut back on the number days that they ran through the obstacle course; dropping from six days a week to just one day a week. The four Genin had, at first, been trilled by the news since they had thought it meant that he wouldn't be driving them so hard. In truth, Kakashi had just switched out the obstacle course for other methods of torture… er training.

To start, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, they had been required to run a mile using the firebreak that sat between the village's defensive wall and the many forests, fields, and houses that were situated on the outermost edges of the village as a track. They started out just running one mile per morning but Kakashi had increased the number of miles they ran each morning by one every other Monday in order to increase their stamina, speed, and endurance. They were currently up to eight miles.

He also discouraged them from walking for any portion of their runs (lest their runs cut into the rest of their training)… by setting his ninken to playfully 'nip' at their heels each time they even looked like they were slowing down.

Tuesday and Thursday mornings were not without their own grueling torture-like training. Only instead of running on the fire break, they were required to run up and down the stairs that led from the base of the Hokage Mountain to the top of the Hokage Mountain. Each round trip up and down the stairs counted as one lap. They had started out at four laps the first time they'd done that particular exercise and they were now up to thirty-two; the number of stair laps they were required to run increasing in increments of two every Tuesday.

Once they finished their laps each day, the team would meet back at Training Ground Thirty-Three where they would perform two hours of semi-intensive calisthenics and aerobics (one hour of each). After that, they'd spend the rest of the morning working on chakra control before they took a break for lunch. Their afternoons would then vary depending on the day of the week.

Monday afternoons were dedicated to taijutsu and the four Genin would be required to spar for three hours with five minute breaks after every hour; those times when they were waiting for their turn to spar used to practice the new stances and katas that Kakashi taught them. Tuesday afternoons were set aside for survival skills; Kakashi covering every little trick and skill that should have been taught to them in the Academy in addition to a number of more advanced tricks skills that weren't. The former mostly being for Sasuke and Sakura (since Naruto and Haruo had already learned most of them) while the latter were taught to all four Genin.

Wednesday afternoons were for ninjutsu practice and he would either teach them a new E or D Rank jutsu or supervise them as they worked on mastering a jutsu they'd been taught previously. Thursday afternoons saw Team Seven working on teamwork and mission strategy; Kakashi sending his Genin through mission scenario after mission scenario in order to force them into learning how to think and function as a team. Each scenario had been repeated until they could 'successfully' complete the 'mission' without bickering (which amounted to seemingly endless repeats at times). Friday afternoons saw a break from the intensive training as that was the weekday that Kakashi had set aside for missions.

Not that those chores were all that much of a break.

Team Seven's Saturdays then became a special kind of hell all of their own.

To start, they were required to be at Training Ground Thirty-Three at three in the morning (to get them used to running on little to no sleep). They would then spend the first three hours of their morning running through the obstacle course countless times. From six to eight, the four of them would then be required to run relay sprints over a fifty yard course. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Those relays were run on tightropes strung over a pit of mud. The ropes were also raised four inches each Saturday to gradually increase the distance they could expect to fall if they slipped.

And they were not allowed to cheat and use their chakra to stick to the rope; he wanted them to work on their natural balance first.

After they had finished their tightrope sprints, they would spend an hour cooling down and stretching. They would then return to the tightrope and spend two hours practicing their taijutsu katas while all four of them were standing on the same rope; their shifting weight constantly throwing one another off balance; teaching them how to compensate for constant shifts in footing and balance. The final hour of the morning would have them throwing shuriken and kunai at targets from their perches on the tightrope to improve their accuracy while on unstable ground. Each missed target earned them a mud-filled water balloon to the back of the head from Kakashi.

Kakashi felt they deserved the sort of prank punishment after all of the times he'd allowed the youngest pair to 'prank' and 'trap' him while they were growing up (all to teach them proper trapping methods and get them to slowly use more elaborate and creative traps). Though, to be honest, there had been a handful of times they'd actually surprised him with a prank he hadn't been prepared for while the rest of the time he deliberately walked into traps to test them and only left a trap un-sprung when they'd reached competency in a certain type of trap or one aspect of setting the trap; so he could get them to work on the next trap or trap aspect to improve their skills.

Their afternoons were not any easier. Right after lunch, they would start with two hours of evasion exercises wherein the four Genin needed to dodge a veritable rain of empty eggshells packed with glitter, paint, or mud launched from sling shots by a dozen of Kakashi's clones. After the first two Saturday practice sessions, the prank-eggs were exchanged for blunt wooden shuriken and kunai. On the fifth Saturday session, the kunai had been upgraded to include low grade exploding tags primed with paint and confetti. They would then get another hour long cooling down period to recoup from the intensive regime.

The final two hours of their Saturday sessions would see them doing strengthening exercises while wearing training weights and weighted packs (the total amount of weight being increased each session in varying increments based up their individual body structures). That was also the only exercise that Haruo didn't participate in due to his age; the green-eyed Genin instead working on his flexibility and speed (the latter of which included a very light set of training weights that did not increase with any significance so as not to stunt his growth).

All of his Genin actually thrived beneath the harsh training regime; all four of them improving by leaps and bounds. The only one who was not satisfied with his current progress though was Sasuke because he couldn't quite seem to ever catch up to Naruto and Haruo's levels. And while he was willing to work with Naruto and Haruo up to a certain point so long as they were under Kakashi's watchful eye, he never actually warmed up to them. He had, in fact, only grown angrier at the pair over time.

That was especially true of Haruo; since Sasuke believed that the younger boy had no right to be better than him when he was younger, smaller, and weaker than Sasuke. And each time it appeared that Haruo did something better than Sasuke, Sasuke's hate and resentment for the younger boy would grow deeper. The most galling part in Sasuke's mind (based on Kakashi's observations) was that Haruo didn't even seem to be aware of the fact that he consistently surpassed Sasuke except when it came to physical strength (the latter strictly due to the age difference between them).

At the same time as Sasuke was sinking deeper into his hate, Sakura was slowly becoming disenchanted with Sasuke as she got to see a side of him that he'd never shown at the Academy. Instead of the aloof orphan with a tragic past, she now saw a self-centered spoiled brat with a cruel streak. Her fan-girl tendencies slowly began to disappear at the same time. Oh, she was still outspoken, loud, easily angered, and very annoying but she gradually stopped chasing after Sasuke and ceased her attempts to garner an acknowledgement from him. She also no longer leapt to Sasuke's defense when he was insulted by Naruto and Haruo.

Those changes didn't save her from the training traps (read pranks) that Haruo and Naruto still unleashed on her though; mostly because she still treated them with disdain from time to time. However, Kakashi had not missed the way the number of traps that the pair set with her in mind had dropped slightly over the past three months. Those traps that were designed to target Sasuke, on the other hand, had actually increased in number. Kakashi suspected that one of his former subordinates had taught the two pranksters how to key a trap to a specific chakra signature via blood samples due to the way that certain traps only triggered when Sasuke used even the smallest drop of chakra around them.

He didn't really worry about how the two could have gotten their hands on Sasuke's blood though; he knew it would have been child's play for them to get a hold of Sasuke's blood during their training sessions.

Kakashi put his ruminations on hold as they reached the east lounge and he paused just long enough to ensure that all four Genin were presentable (first impressions and all that rot) before he knocked sharply on the door to announce their arrival. He waited for a count of three and then opened the door before he stepped into the lounge with his Genin following him like a line of little ducklings. The first thing he noticed upon entering the room was the sharp and bitter tang of alcohol choking the air and Kakashi hurriedly plugged his sensitive nose with chakra to stop the burning.

The next thing he noticed was the disheveled and obviously drunk man sitting on the couch. The man was easily in his late fifties or early sixties with pewter gray hair that stuck up in disordered spikes about his head, an equally gray beard and mustache that were neatly trimmed (if currently unkempt), and small oval glasses that looked too small for his face. He wore a sleeveless dark gray tunic belted around his waist, a white towel draped around his neck, and tan pants that ended mid calf; all of them rumpled with sleep and reeking of stale sake and dried sweat.

The last thing he noticed was the fact that the man looked defeated; the way he was sitting with his shoulders slumped, the pinched look of grief and self doubt on his face, and the dejected air that clung to the man. Kakashi nearly grimaced beneath his face mask when he realized that the man must be Team Seven's client since he was the only civilian currently in the lounge. Part of him honestly hoped he was wrong because he did not look forward to spending the next month with an apparent career alcoholic.

The man in question glanced up almost at the same instant that the four Genin behind Kakashi spread out on either side of him as they searched the room for their client. Sighing, Kakashi cracked the seal on the mission scroll in order to learn the client's name in a futile effort to stave off the inevitable for a few seconds so that he could confirm that they had the correct client. Once he'd committed the details of the mission to his memory, he glanced up to meet the man's eyes as he asked, "Are you Tazuna the Bridge Builder?"

"Yeah, that's me," the man replied with only the faintest slur. "Who're you?"

"I'm Jounin Hatake Kakashi and these are my students; we will be escorting you back to Nami no Kuni."

"Nani?" Tazuna demanded as he reared back as if slapped; his eyes locking onto Haruo's diminutive form. "I came here to hire a team of super ninja to protect me and my super bridge; no one said anything about sending me back with a bunch of wet-behind-the-ear brats barely out of diapers! The short one looks like he should still be hanging onto his mother's apron strings for crying out loud. And the one in orange looks like he'd be afraid of his own shadow."

"Why you… I'm going to punch you on the nose and show you who's afraid of whose shadow," Naruto growled as he cracked his knuckles and began storming towards the bridge builder. "And then I'm going to rip out your tongue for picking on Haruo."

"Naruto, you're not allowed to hit our client," Kakashi admonished as he reached out to snag hold of Naruto by the back of his jacket to keep the blond from carrying out his threat. "And Tazuna-san, please do not insult my students; all four of them are trained shinobi and more than capable of protecting you from any bandits we encounter."

"I still paid good money to hire proper ninja."

"My students are proper 'ninja' and I'm no slouch myself," Kakashi retorted as he frowned at the man; it was very rare for the client of a C-Rank Mission to throw such a fit over the ages of the shinobi assigned to the mission. "However, if you're still dissatisfied though, then I'm certain that the Hokage would be willing to grant you a refund after you explain to him why the team that he personally selected to fill your request is unsatisfactory."

"Uh, no, there's no need for that; I'm sure you're all very super," Tazuna hastily assured Kakashi in response to the underlying message that Kakashi had given him; which basically conveyed the fact that if he wasn't happy with what he got, then he could take his business elsewhere.

"Wonderful, then why don't I keep you company while my students run home to pack," Kakashi stated as he released his hold on Naruto's jacket and let him drop to the floor. The Jounin then addressed his students, "The four of you have two hours to pack what you'll need for a month long trip before you meet us at the main gate so that we can leave."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," Haruo, Sasuke, and Sakura all promptly replied slightly out of sync while Naruto simply scowled as he scrambled back up onto his feet.

The four Genin were gone two shakes of a dog's tail later and Kakashi turned to study his client for a moment before he casually instructed, "If you would follow me, Tazuna-san; I'll escort you to your hotel so you can pack your things and get cleaned up before we need to meet back up with my students."

After spending two hours observing Tazuna's behavior, Kakashi was ninety-percent certain that their client was hiding something. The man was just far too twitchy for him not to be. More than once, Kakashi had been half tempted to hand the mission over to an older, more experienced team but a single memory stayed his hand. And it wasn't the idle threats of his Genin this time. No, it was his memory of the last conversation he'd had with Jiraiya when the man was in Konoha back around when Naruto and Haruo faced off against Mizuki.

"_Kakashi, come here a moment; there's one last thing I need to talk with you about before I leave," Jiraiya had declared after he'd shown up out of the blue at Training Ground Thirty-Three on the afternoon after the Mizuki incident. _

"_What about?" Kakashi had asked as he left off setting up one of the more complex traps on the obstacle course that he and Tenzou had been building at the time._

"_A warning from the toads," Jiraiya replied as he crouched down beside Kakashi and lowered his voice. _

"_About…?"_

"_Missions. Once you start taking your gaki on missions, you must never hand a mission that you've been assigned over to another team or abandon the mission no how many bad vibes you get from your client. Not even if you learn that he lied about the mission in any way."_

"_What? Why? That doesn't make any sense."_

"_Prophecy rarely ever does," Jiraiya retorted with an inelegant snort. _

Kakashi frowned at the back of his client as the two of them approached the main gate where he could already see all four of his Genin waiting for them. Since he was watching the man at the time, Kakashi didn't miss the way Tazuna flinched and sagged in on himself the moment the man caught sight of the waiting Genin. It was at that moment that Kakashi knew for certain the man had lied, in some way, about the mission and it was very hard to ignore the instincts that were screaming at him not to take his Genin on this mission.

_Your lies had better not get one of my cute little students killed, Tazuna-san; or bandits will be the least of your worries,_ Kakashi thought to himself before he locked away his emotions so as not to kill his client for placing his Genin team in harm's way or himself for taking the mission in the first place.

One minute later, the two of them had joined the four Genin and Kakashi couldn't help but smile despite his less than pleasant mood when he noticed all four pre-teens eagerly peering out of the gates. They were like a pack of adorable little puppies all wriggling around in excitement at the prospect of exploring someplace new. Kakashi only prayed that the four of them held onto what little innocence they still had for as long as they could; he didn't want any of them to end up as jaded as him.

Pushing aside his worries, Kakashi stepped over to sign Team Seven out of the village before he ushered both his client and his four students through the gate. They'd barely gone half a dozen steps beyond the village's wall when Kakashi ordered, "Naruto, Sasuke; the two of you are on point. Haruo, Sakura; take center. I will take the rear."

Kakashi felt a burst of pride when all four Genin promptly slid into formation around the client; Naruto and Sasuke moving up two yards in order to scout the way forward while Sakura and Haruo both bracketed their client. It had taken a lot of training to get them to drop into formation so smoothly but the effort had certainly paid off. He was also very pleased to note that neither Haruo nor Naruto were distracted by the client's earlier insults. He would just have to make certain that the two of them didn't prank the man to death in return for the insults he'd given them at the first available opportunity presented once the mission was over.

The rest of the afternoon passed by fairly quickly as they put several miles between themselves and Konoha before they sought out a relatively sheltered clearing to make camp in for the night. Kakashi then set Haruo and Sakura to cook their supper while Sasuke and Naruto took first watch. After they ate, Haruo and Sakura would take second watch while the other two cleaned up. Kakashi had lightly napped both before and after the meal in preparation of sitting watch through the rest of the night while his Genin and Tazuna slept.

They would all be up before the sun the next morning, eat a light breakfast of fruit and roasted nuts (all of which Kakashi knew had come from Haruo's garden), break camp, and be back on the road before the sun finished cresting the horizon. Their second day of travel would pass by without any trouble but that didn't ease Kakashi's mind any since an intelligent foe would hold off on attacking their small group until they were far enough away from Konoha that backup was more than a few hours away. Traveling as slowly as they were (at a civilian's pace), meant that a smart enemy would not ambush until they were at least half-way to Nami.

And Kakashi had no doubts that whoever was after the bridge builder was smart because a stupid enemy didn't inspire true fear in their victims for very long.

Kakashi's prediction of an ambush would come true during the afternoon of their third day of travel. This time, Haruo had been running point with Naruto when the nine year old sensor pulled up short and cocked his head to one side for nearly a full minute before he spun back to flash Kakashi the hand sign for a foreign chakra signature and the number two. Kakashi acknowledged the warning and replied with the sign for him to proceed with caution. Haruo hesitated only for a split second before he nodded and hurried to catch back up to Naruto in order to warn his friend.

They hadn't been walking for more than another fifteen minutes when Kakashi picked up the faint scent of body odor, a type of kunai oil used to prevent kunai from rusting in damp environments, ocean salt, and seaweed. The latter three scents were ones that were strongly associated with shinobi from Kirigakure (just like forest scents and animal musk were associated with Konoha shinobi or sand and sage brush were associated with Sunagakure shinobi). He could also sense the faint presence of two fairly strong chakra signatures just at the edge of his perception.

Kakashi immediately knew whoever was attempting to ambush them were shinobi but he didn't know if they were after him (because he had pissed off more than a few Kiri shinobi during his lifetime) or if they were after their client. There was a slim possibility that they might be after one of the Genin but Kakashi doubted that was the case since so few people were aware that his team had taken a C-Rank Mission this time around. Knowing that, Kakashi mentally reviewed his options in order to come up with a plan that would allow him to determine who the target was as well as prevent any harm from befalling his Genin or his client.

Once he had a tentative plan in place, he slowly stopped suppressing his chakra in order to make certain that the enemy would target him first as the 'largest' threat. Up ahead, Haruo twitched and half turned back in his direction before he shook his head and resumed scanning the way forward; a clear indication that the gaki had sensed Kakashi's swelling presence. Kakashi almost winced; he should have known any change in his chakra signature would have caught the nine year old's attention. At least he hadn't let himself get sidetracked for long.

He felt like slapping his face when Haruo stopped and stared at a spot on the road just a few minutes later since Kakashi suspected that the kid had just located their ambushers. He was certain of it when the kid kept glancing back at the same spot even after he started walking again. Kakashi was both relieved and concerned when whoever it was that was hiding in that spot hadn't immediately attacked the green-eyed Genin for noticing their position. That could mean that the ambushers were either waiting to catch Kakashi in the trap or that their group wasn't their target.

As the former ANBU Captain prepared a combination Kawarimi and genjutsu to escape whatever attack their ambushers would potentially launch at him, he made a mental note to train Haruo out of his tendency to physically react whenever he sensed another's chakra signature. It wouldn't do for him to constantly reveal his awareness to enemies like that because it was standard practice to take out chakra sensors first because it would potentially cripple the rest of the team if they were relying on the sensor to warn them in event of an ambush.

It was a tactic that Kakashi himself had used to great effect against larger groups on more than one occasion.

Pushing future training lessons to the back of his mind, Kakashi spread his senses out further and waited for the attack he was pretty certain was coming. He picked up a brief spike of killing intent as Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuke walked passed a puddle of water sitting off on the side of the road and Kakashi narrowed his eyes for a moment as he tried to figure out if had been Tazuna or Sasuke that had garnered that reactions (since Sakura wasn't likely to be known outside of the village at this point due to her mostly civilian heritage and Sasuke _was _wearing the Uchiha Fan on the back of his shirt).

He also wondered whose bright idea it was to hide in a puddle of water when there hadn't been any rain in over a week.

He quickly dropped that line of thinking as he eyed said puddle of water out of the corner of his eye when he walked passed it next. Kakashi was just glancing forward to check on his students and their client one last time when he caught Haruo glancing worriedly back in his direction at the same instant that a spike of chakra burst outwards from the puddle. He flashed the nine year old the sign for 'don't panic' as the two shinobi that were hiding in the puddle attempted to catch him in a shuriken chain that they were holding between then.

A split second before the loops of the chain would have settled around him, Kakashi activated the genjutsu he had prepared and swapped himself out with a chunk of log. He then shifted his position in order to watch what his attackers would do next while preparing to throw himself back into the fight the moment it appeared that his Genin were in any danger of being harmed. He felt more than a little irritation when he recognized the pair as the Oni Kyoudai from Kiri; a pair of well known Chuunin that had turned traitor to their village about six or seven years earlier.

Kakashi then winced as he heard Sakura scream out his name in response to 'his' death. He was at least pleased to see Haruo and Naruto falling back to protect their client as they were supposed to and that Sakura soon followed their example as she drew strength from their presence. It was nice to see that Sakura had started to trust the two enough to feel comforted by their presence instead of merely annoyed. Kakashi then felt a stab of irritation when Sasuke broke formation to attack the two missing nin alone instead of helping his teammates to protect the client.

The arrogance of the Uchiha brat was going to end up getting him killed if he didn't start thinking before he threw himself headfirst into a fight without any backup. It wasn't that the kid wasn't skilled, he was, but the kid had no head for strategy and his first instinct was always to abandon the team to face off against an opponent; leaving himself wide open to counterattacks – especially when outnumbered. Scowling under his mask, Kakashi prepared to Shunshin back into the fight as Sasuke quickly found himself out matched.

An explosion of orange would beat Kakashi to the punch when Naruto sent a wave of clones into save Sasuke's neck before the Uchiha was caught up in the same trick that had caught 'Kakashi' at the start of the fight. Kakashi still arrived in time to bash the two attackers' heads together in order to knock them out before they could finish off Naruto's clones and make another attempt to kill one of his Genin.

"I think it's time that you and I sat down to discuss all of the information that you've been withholding," Kakashi coldly told his client as he hefted one unconscious shinobi onto his shoulder before tucking the other one under his arm in a calculated display of strength meant to intimidate the civilian. "We can start with the fact that you failed to report that you are being targeted by rogue shinobi and not the bandits that you claimed were harassing you and your employees."

Tazuna winced but quickly nodded in compliance.

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**Translations:** English to Japanese

Bunshin Bakuha – [Shadow] Clone Explosion  
Hai – yes  
Kawarimi no Jutsu – Replacement Technique  
Nani – what  
Oni Kyoudai – Demon Brothers

**Notes:**

Canon Changes – once again, we've seen quite a few changes to Naruto canon in this chapter. For starters, Kakashi is still being rather aggressive with his training of Team Seven. The reason for that is twofold; first, he's still relatively fresh out of ANBU and second, he knows that three of his Genin _need_ to be strong due to their bloodlines. He also didn't praise Sasuke for going after the Oni Kyoudai alone when he should have stuck with his teammates so he could help them shield their client from any attacks and have someone who could watch his back.

Another change was the absence of Iruka to protest a rookie team taking on a C-Rank Mission but I gave you all a very vague hint as to what he is doing right now a few chapters earlier. If you don't remember what it is, don't worry about going back to look it up; it will come up again in later chapters sometime after the Wave Arc and before the Chuunin Exams Arc.

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**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	18. Uchiha Sized Headaches

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Eighteen: Uchiha Sized Headaches

_April 22, 1990, 2:43 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

"You need to stay out of my way, loser," Sasuke hissed out through clenched teeth as he stalked passed Naruto and purposefully slammed his shoulder into the blond's shoulder.

"He saved your life," Haruo snapped at him as he pulled his attention away from Kakashi, the two prisoners, and their client to glare at the other boy. "And he wouldn't have needed to save you, if you hadn't stupidly broken formation and ran headlong into a fight with two shinobi that outranked and outclassed you."

"Nobody asked for you opinion, crybaby," Sasuke growled back as he whipped his head around to glare at Haruo. "I had them right where I wanted them until the loser got in my way."

"Right where you wanted them? Yeah, right, teme," Naruto countered with a derisive snort. "What, were you hoping that they would cut your ego back down to a manageable size when they took your head off your shoulders?"

"The three of you need to stop fighting," Sakura timidly instructed as she stepped between them. "We're on a mission and we're supposed to be working together to protect our client; not bickering."

"Then tell your boyfriend and the baby to stay out of my way," Sasuke sneered as he turned his glare to her next.

"They were never in your way; you were trying to show off and Kakashi-sensei has repeatedly told us to never show off while we're on a mission," Sakura replied in a voice that fairly shook as she stood up to her former crush.

Haruo felt more than a little surprised by her behavior; sure, she'd stopped pandering to the Uchiha's ego a few weeks back but this was the first time she'd actually spoken up and verbally criticized him. She'd also never stepped in to play peace maker between the three boys previously. Her assertion had even taken Sasuke by surprise if the gob smacked expression on his face was any indication. Sasuke's expression then turned ugly as he clenched his fist and took a step forward as if he was going to punch Sakura for daring to censure him.

"Leave her alone; all she did was state the truth," Haruo ordered as he stepped around Sakura to prevent Sasuke from punching her just because he was pissed when he noticed the way the other boy had cocked his arm back.

Sasuke's hand snaked out to twist his fist in the front of Haruo's tracksuit before he half lifted him off the ground and shoved his face right up in Haruo's as he ground out, "You need to mind your own business and keep your mouth shut or I'm going to shut it for you."

"Put Haruo down or I'm going to do the world a favor and neuter you," Naruto growled darkly as the metallic sound of rattling chains filled the air along with a dark aura of killing intent.

Instead of complying, Sasuke lowered Haruo back to the ground, spun him around, and shifted his hold so that he had Haruo in a choke hold as he retorted, "Make me, loser."

The position sharply reminded Haruo of the night Mizuki had nearly killed him and his earlier irritation with the Uchiha turned to fury in the blink of an eye. Not willing to allow him to goad Naruto into doing something that would get his best friend in trouble with their sensei (or the Hokage if his friend actually killed the Uchiha), Haruo scraped his right heel down Sasuke's bare shin and stomped hard on his uncovered toes. The second Sasuke loosened the arm around his neck in response to the pain, Haruo tucked his chin down and bit him on the inside of the wrist hard enough to force him to let go but not enough to actually break skin.

At the same time, Haruo's magic lashed out in his defense; covering Sasuke's arm, chest, and neck in painful blisters and boils that popped and stung when Sasuke's clothes chafed them – the stinging pain causing Sasuke to cry out. Haruo then elbowed Sasuke in the stomach and jumped away from him before he spun around to face the older boy, his emerald eyes glittering dangerously as he fell into a defensive stance in front of Naruto. Sasuke was in no condition to cause any further problems though; the Uchiha currently hunched over as he whimpered in pain.

"What is going on here," Kakashi demanded as he suddenly appeared between Haruo and Sasuke in a swirl of leaves; the two prisoners no longer any where in sight.

"N-nothing, sensei; we were just t-talking," Sakura stuttered out as she tried (and failed) to smile innocently at their Jounin instructor.

"Haruo…?" Kakashi asked; the inflection of his tone demanding an explanation.

"Haruo was just trying to…" Naruto tried to interject only for Kakashi to cut him off as he slashed his right hand through the air in a clear order to be silent.

"Your name is not Haruo, Naruto."

Haruo finally stopped trying to glare at Sasuke through Kakashi's legs and lifted his eyes up to meet Kakashi's one-eyed gaze, "Sasuke tried to pick a fight with Naruto for saving him from the guys that ambushed us. I spoke up in defense of Naruto and Sakura tried to break up the fight. Sasuke didn't like what Sakura had to say and when he went to hit her, I blocked his way and told him to leave her alone. Sasuke then escalated the fight by grabbing me and Naruto got angry because Sasuke put me in a choke hold. I then ended the fight because I didn't want Naruto to get in trouble."

"And just what did you do to Sasuke to end the fight?"

'_I broke his hold and my magic lashed out at him because I was angry,_' Haruo replied in AnBu Sign Code after he briefly glanced in Sakura's direction before he returned his gaze to Kakashi's.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose before he signed back with his other hand to ask, '_How badly did your magic hurt him?_'

'_It just gave him a bunch of blisters and boils._'

'_You will flush your magic out of his injuries once we make camp tonight and we will be discussing your punishment for allowing yourself to be drawn into a fight while on a mission when we return to Konoha,_' Kakashi replied as he dropped his hand from his face in order to give Haruo a stern look.

"Hai, sensei," Haruo replied verbally as a slight flush crept up the back of his neck in response to the implied criticism. Kakashi nodded before he turned his back on Haruo to tend to Sasuke. Haruo then turned away from them to glance at Sakura as he offered an awkward, "You didn't have to fib for me 'cause sensei would have figured out I lost my temper the moment he got a look at Uchiha's injuries but thank you for trying."

"He also probably heard the entire argument because he's super creepy like that," Naruto added as he walked up and began straightening up Haruo's uniform in an attempt to check him for injuries without appearing to do so and Haruo let out a soft huff but allowed Naruto to mother him.

"Sasuke started and it wouldn't have been fair for you to take all of the blame," Sakura replied with an award shrug. "I also felt I owed you because you protected me from Sasuke's anger when you didn't have to. So, I guess that means I should be thanking you instead."

Haruo snorted softly as he glanced sideways at the pink-haired kunoichi before he drawled, "You know, Haruno-san, you're not too bad; for a girl, that is."

Sakura burst into giggles in response to his quip and quickly covered her mouth to smother the sound. Haruo and Naruto both snickered when she let out a couple of snorts as a result. Once she'd brought her amusement under control she jokingly replied, "Better than a fan-girl though, ne?"

"Yep," Haruo agreed sagely, "much better."

Sakura gave the pair a genuine smile before she nervously bit her lip and glanced towards where Kakashi was still tending to Sasuke's injuries. After a minute, she turned back towards the two friends and shyly stated, "Hello, I'm Haruno Sakura. I like to read and learn new things. I don't know what my dream is anymore and I'm looking for a new hobby. I think I'd also like to make a couple of new friends."

Haruo blinked in surprise before he realized that Sakura was, in a way, asking for them to start over. He then exchanged a brief glance with Naruto before his long time friend stated, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like Haruo and Ramen. I dislike waiting the three minute wait it takes to make instant ramen and I hate bullies and those who pick on my friends. I'm not ready to share my dream yet but one of my hobbies is making traps."

"My name is Haruo," Haruo offered next as he followed Naruto's lead. "My best friend is Naruto. I like numbers and trees. I don't like people that pick on Naruto and don't like it when I see people destroying trees for no reason. My dreams are… complicated and my favorite hobby is gardening."

The three of them were just sort of standing there grinning at one another when the moment was interrupted by a loud whistle from Kakashi. Jumping in surprise, the three of them whipped around with wide eyes to find their sensei had finished tending to Sasuke's injuries already. Standing beside him was a bandaged swathed Sasuke who was sullenly glaring at the ground and a subdued Tazuna who was carefully avoiding looking at any of the shinobi.

"Let's get moving; we need to make up the time we lost if we hope to reach Nami no Kuni on schedule," Kakashi ordered once he had their attention.

"Honto…? You're still going to do the mission even though I lied?" Tazuna desperately asked in a shocked tone.

"Against my better judgment, yes," Kakashi replied bluntly. "We've already come this far and we were committed to completing the mission the moment we accepted the assignment."

"Arigatou, shinobi-san!"

"Oh, don't think me yet, Tazuna-san; we haven't even sat down to discuss the penalties that will be levied against you for falsifying the parameters of the mission."

"Once my bridge is finished and Nami is no longer in Gato's control, I will pay any penalties you want me to," Tazuna swore without hesitation. "All I ask is that you don't hold my actions against the rest of Nami."

"We can discuss reparations after the mission is over," Kakashi replied as he inclined his head towards Tazuna in acknowledgment of both his promise and his request. "For now, we need to get moving. Naruto; you're on point again. Haruo, Sakura; the two of you take the center. Sasuke; you're with me."

Naruto hesitated for a split second before he began trotting off in the direction that they'd been traveling in before they had been ambushed. Haruo and Sakura waited until Tazuna began trailing after Naruto before they fell into step on either side of him. He had only taken a dozen steps before he glanced back over his shoulder to note that Sasuke was unhappily trudging along beside a somewhat grumpy looking Kakashi (not that it was easy to read their sensei's emotions with that blasted mask on his face). Haruo swung his gaze forward again and tried not worry about how much trouble he was in.

"What do your parents think of you being a ninja when you're both so young?" Tazuna asked after they'd been traveling for another hour.

"My parents are proud of me even if they are a bit sad that I chose to follow in my otousan's footsteps," Sakura replied from Tazuna's right.

"And what of your parents, young man?"

"I'm an orphan," Haruo replied out of habit since he wasn't supposed to talk about his father.

"Sumimasen," Tazuna automatically offered in a contrite tone.

"It's okay; you didn't know."

"Who was that Gato person that you mentioned earlier?" Sakura inquired in an attempt to dispel the awkward silence that had descended after the slight faux pas Tazuna had made when asking about Haruo's parents.

"Gato Senshu is the owner and CEO of Gato Corporation and its many offshoots that include Gato Transport, Gato Cannery Company, Gato Construction, Gato Lumber, Gato Mining Company, and Gato Farms," Haruo recited from memory before their client could speak up. "The parent corporation has offices in sixteen countries, only two of which are counted amongst the Five Great Nations, and does business with a further twelve countries. Gato himself is estimated to be worth thirty-eight point three billion ryo while Gato Corp. and all of its subsidiaries are only listed as being worth nineteen point six billion ryo."

"That places Gato as the third richest man in the Elemental Nations. He is also on record as the shortest man living in the Elemental Nations today and reported to stand at exactly three feet and two and one eighth inches tall. The only thing shorter than his physical height is his temper as he is well known to viciously attack those that stand against him in addition to staging hostile takeovers of any company that attempts to compete with him. As such, he has been accused of sabotaging twenty-nine small businesses and suspected of arranging two hundred and seventy-three assassinations in order to remove his competition."

"How did you know all of that?" Tazuna asked with no little surprise. "I didn't even know half of that and the bastard has had Nami no Kuni in a choke-hold for almost two years now."

"I like numbers and I find statistics interesting," Haruo replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Sensei-nii also made certain that I was fully aware of those civilians that're considered dangerous since there's always a chance that they might request a mission from Konoha and any team I ended up on could've potentially ended up working for him as a result. And Gato does have a reputation for stabbing people in the back when they are no longer of use to him."

"Sensei-nii? What kind of a person is named Sensei?" Tazuna asked in complete confusion while Sakura sent Haruo a curious look since he had never explained the nickname to her even though she'd heard him use it repeatedly.

"It's not really a name. It's just an old nickname I gave a… friend when I was really little," Haruo replied with only one small hesitant pause when he'd tried to find the best way to describe his father without blurting out the fact that he was his father. Luckily, neither his teammate nor their client seemed to notice.

"Do you know anything about the two men that attacked us?" Sakura hesitantly asked at that point.

"I don't know if I do or not since I don't know their names and didn't recognize their faces because of the masks that they were wearing. I'm also not all that familiar with any of the rogue shinobi from shinobi villages outside of Konoha because sensei-nii refused to let me skim through his Bingo Book."

"What's a Bingo Book?"

"It's a special book that holds information on various shinobi and other dangerous criminals and the bounties that have been offered for their capture or death. Each hidden village publishes their own version since not every villages is concerned with the same people. They're only ever issued to high level shinobi because other villages will kill to get their hands on another village's Bingo Book in order to gather information on that village's enemies. Or to find out what information another village has on their elite shinobi. Few shinobi under the rank of Chuunin are even allowed to read a single page of a Bingo Book because of how prized that information is and how easily it could potentially be extracted."

Sakura thanked him for the information before she turned to grilling Tazuna for more information about Nami. Haruo listened to their chatter with half an ear while he focused most of his attention on their surroundings as he consistently used the Chakra Cloud Technique that Kuma had given to him back in December to search for additional threats every dozen steps. It was that technique that had allowed him to sense the two shinobi that had been lying in wait for them long before he was close enough to actually sense them without the aide of the jutsu.

By the time they made camp that evening, Haruo was feeling more than a little tired from the sheer number of times he'd used the Chakra Cloud Jutsu to scan their surroundings as well as from his earlier burst of accidental magic. Kakashi had taken one look at him and sent him straight to bed instead of having him help with supper or stand watch like he usually would. Haruo was far too tired to complain about being treated like a little kid. He would be briefly woken up once their evening meal was ready so that he could eat and flush his magic from Sasuke's system before he was sent back to bed for the night.

The next day all six travelers were tense and on edge as they continued on their way; all of them wary of running into a second ambush based upon the lengths that Gato was obviously willing to go to dispose of the bridge builder. With each passing hour, their worry and wariness would only double as the longer their enemy went without showing themselves, the more tense they grew. When they made camp late that evening, Haruo in particular was strung taut as trip-wire and exhausted from yet another day spent searching out the smallest chakra signatures within twenty-five yards of their group.

Everyone else but Naruto and Kakashi were just as tired; Naruto's bottomless well of energy and the constant influx of chakra from the Kyuubi ceaselessly washed away his fatigue while Kakashi had long since learned how to conserve his energy and monitor their surroundings for threats. Haruo noted that Naruto's endless well of energy seemed to piss Sasuke off even more than it usually did but at least this time he didn't pick a fight with him. He also didn't miss the contemptuous glares that Sasuke sent in his direction but that was only to be expected.

Haruo had bruised his pride when he'd escaped his hold so easily.

Despite his tiredness and his worries about the mission, Haruo was excited because he could smell the ocean due to how close they were to the coast. He hadn't seen the sea since his father had brought him to Konoha and at the time he had been far too nervous and worried about what was going to happen to him to be all that interested in his surroundings. The nine and a half year old almost wished they weren't on a mission right that moment because he would have loved to have a chance to build sand castles on the beach and explore the tide pools – two things he'd never done.

He almost had trouble falling asleep despite how tired he felt because of how excited he was.

Kakashi would have them up well before dawn the next morning. It was cold and foggy out as they made their way to a small inlet where Tazuna had made prior arrangements for a friend to pick them up. The boat that would be used to take them across the ocean to Nami was small, crowded, and smelled like fish guts and bird poop. On top of that, it was kind of creepy being ferried through the fog since Haruo couldn't see where they were going. He also didn't like the fact that Kakashi had ordered him not to scan their surroundings until after they were on solid ground again.

They'd only been on the water for an hour when a giant shape loomed out of the foggy darkness with the rising of the sun and all four Genin gaped the moment they realized they were looking at Tazuna's bridge. The bridge was far bigger and more impressive than any of them had expected (due to their rather poor first impression of Tazuna). And while Haruo knew there were bigger and more impressive bridges in the Outer Countries, he was still suitably awed by the sheer size of the bridge.

Five minutes after they'd been given a glimpse of their client's engineering genius (it took brains to design a bridge of that magnitude, after all), they were warned to duck down as the man transporting them maneuvered his boat into a large, half submerged tunnel that cut straight through the cliff beneath the bridge. The tunnel was obviously an old lava tube that had been widened and worn smoothed by the constant rise and fall of the tide; the perfect smuggler's tunnel. The entire island (which was more of an archipelago of small islands that had formed practically right on top of one another than a single land mass) was apparently riddled with similar tunnels.

They would emerge from the tunnel into a small land-bound tidal lake about forty-five minutes later and they were quickly shuffled off the boat by Tazuna's friend before he disappeared into the low fog that still clung to the island.

"My house is roughly twenty miles east and north of here," Tazuna informed the shinobi as he led them towards a dirt track that led deeper into the island.

"Naruto, take point again. Haruo; I want you and Sakura to stick with our client at all times. Sasuke, you'll be guarding our client's back while I bring up the rear," Kakashi instructed as the five shinobi moved to follow their client. "Haruo, go ahead and check our surroundings for ambushes but I don't want you scanning more than fifteen yards in any direction or to scan more than once every ten minutes; you need to conserve your energy and avoid drawing attention to our presence by using the Chakra Cloud Technique too often or over too wide of an area."

"Hai, sensei," Haruo replied from where he was walking beside Tazuna before he sent out a pulse of wide spread chakra that was roughly one-eighth the size of the 'cloud' he'd been using to scan their path previously (his normal range close to fifty yards in all directions).

He let his chakra hang in the air for a moment before he let it fade away the moment he determined that there were no foreign chakra signatures in the immediate area. While he counted out the seconds until he could use the technique again, he extended his senses to the edges of his limits (which had grown from fifteen feet to twenty-five feet over the past three months) in an effort to keep watch for an immediate threat. Haruo quickly settled into rhythm of scanning and sensing his immediate surroundings over the next hour.

At the end of that hour, Haruo stiffened when his Chakra Cloud brushed up against a much, much larger Chakra Cloud with an unfamiliar signature. It didn't take a genius to figure out that whoever it was on the other side of the second technique would have picked up on his presence at the same exact second Haruo had picked up on theirs. That was the way that particular technique worked and Haruo had been taught to recognize what it felt like when another used the same technique by his father.

Half turning around, Haruo caught Kakashi's eye before he signed, '_There's another shinobi on the island who can use the Chakra Cloud Technique; I don't know where he is though because I don't know his range._'

'_Don't use the technique again. Keep on your toes and warn Naruto,_' Kakashi signed back.

Haruo nodded as he turned back around and scanned the ground in front of him for a pebble. Once he found a good sized one, he scooped it up without stopping and immediately bounced the small rock off Naruto's left shoulder. As soon as Naruto craned his head around in response to the light tap, Haruo signed, '_There's another ambush up ahead._'

Naruto flashed the sign for 'understood' back at him before he returned to scouting their way forward. Haruo then concentrated on stretching his senses out again as he tried to pinpoint the source of the chakra signature he'd brushed up against just a few minutes earlier. He was still searching when their group walked into the Chakra Cloud about ten minutes later and Haruo shivered as the foreign chakra signature washed over him like a thick intangible blanket that made it even harder for him to pinpoint the source of the chakra because the signature was all around him.

Haruo was wound taut as a compressed spring by the time another hour had passed. He was feeling rather frustrated and useless because he couldn't sense a damn thing outside of their group through the heavy cloud of chakra that hung over everything. The only reason he could even sense his teammates and their client was because they were so close to him and even Naruto's chakra signature had been muted by the chakra laced air. He couldn't help but feel he was letting the rest of the team down because he couldn't find their enemy.

_Well, maybe not the Uchiha; that jerk is probably happy that I'm failing at something_, Haruo thought darkly to himself as he scowled at the ground in front of him.

That thought had barely finished passing through his mind when he suddenly felt four identical chakra signatures burst into existence in a wide net around them; surrounding the team and their client. Haruo muttered a few choice swear words that he had heard a few adults use under his breath because he hadn't even known the shinobi was that close until he'd created his stupid clones because whoever it was had been hidden by the chakra saturated air.

The man was over six feet tall with a muscular build that made him appear far larger than Kakashi. Like their sensei, the foreign shinobi covered half of his face; though he had used white bandages to cover his mouth and nose instead of a cloth face mask. He had messy black hair that he kept rather short and spiked, light skin, and pencil thin eyebrows that were hard to see unless you knew they were there. For clothes, the man wore gray pinstripe pants, brown and white camouflage arm and leg warmers, a dark blue harness that held an oversized meat cleaver on the man's back, and an off-centered headband with Kirigakure no Sato's symbol.

All in all, he was a rather intimidating figure.

And there were currently four of him boxing in their team.

"Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi flatly stated in what Haruo knew was an annoyed tone.

"Oh? You know me? It is rather flattering to know that someone as famous as the infamous Kopi Ninja no Kakashi could recognize me right off the bat," Zabuza retorted in amusement.

"The four of you are to protect the client and stay out of the fight if at all possible; Zabuza is on a completely different level than the two that we ran into the other day," Kakashi instructed in a hard tone as he shoved his hitai-ate up off his left eye to reveal a nasty scar that ran through over his left eyelid.

"If you hand over the bridge builder without a fight, I will let you take your team back to Konoha."

"As annoying as our client is, we are honor bound to see this mission through to the end," Kakashi retorted as he swept his gaze over the four incarnations of their attacker.

"It's your funeral," Zabuza cackled in return as all four incarnations of the man darted forward.

As Haruo watched the clones racing towards them, he couldn't help but recall something that Kakashi had told the four of them more than once during their strategy training sessions.

"_When you are forced to engage an enemy during a mission, your biggest liability in the fight will always be your clients because they are slower and weaker and nine times out of ten are the target of your enemies. To survive a fight against a stronger opponent, you must eliminate that liability as quickly as possible. That means that you need to remove the client from the situation and ensure that the enemy can not get around you to get to the client. The same thing would apply to an injured teammate; since they will not be able to fight at all if they are severely injured."_

A split second later, a plan formed in Haruo's mind as he realized how he could remove Tazuna from the situation and promptly demanded, "Naruto, give me a smoke screen!"

"Hai," Naruto replied as he brought his hands up to form a cross with his middle and index fingers on both hands.

"Sakura, Tazuna-san; I need the two of you to crouch down and huddle close to me – quickly!" Haruo ordered next as he crouched down to dig his hands into the ground so that he could pour a flood of earth natured chakra into the ground beneath their feet.

A heart beat later, two dozen shadow clones burst into existence around the group and ten of them immediately dispelled to provide the requested cover while the rest of them split into three groups to intercept three of their attackers and Kakashi headed off the fourth. At the same time, Sakura and Tazuna dropped to the ground and shifted so that they were kneeling right practically on top of Haruo. The instant the three of them were hidden behind the smoke, Haruo pulled on the dirt saturated with his chakra and formed it into a large ten inch thick dome that covered their small group and dropped the three of them into a small crater.

Before the dirt even finished settling into place, he used his Mokuton to weave the bits of grass and other plant matter trapped in the dirt into a lattice work of interwoven roots and grass blades to strengthen the construct and help it hold its current form. He then used the Earth Pressing Exercise to compress the dirt dome into a one-inch thick shield that was as hard as steel; his desperation pulling on his magic to accomplish the feat. Within seconds of the shield forming, all three of those inside of it clapped their hands to their ears when something heavy slammed into the shield with a loud clang.

Haruo shook off the wave of exhaustion that slammed into him in the wake of forming the chakra intensive shield so that he could use the Earth Pressing Exercise a second time to harden the floor to keep anyone from digging under the shield and give the three of them enough room to move due to how cramped the original dome had been. He then used his Mokuton a second time to grow a ring of grass around the very edge of the shield using the loose dirt that was still present inside their makeshift bunker to prevent them from running out of oxygen any time soon.

Once he was finished, Haruo crumpled to the ground and pressed his face into the cool surface of the compressed dirt floor as he felt his body go into shock. His eyes would slide shut seconds later and he was already sliding towards unconsciousness when he heard Sakura frantically calling his name in between several ringing clangs as someone on the outside attacked his shield with gusto.

"Haruo! Haruo, what's wrong!? Where were you hit?" Sakura demanded as she rolled him over onto his back and began searching for any obvious injuries with her hands (their shelter far too dark for her to actually see him); the kunoichi obviously not realizing that the nine and a half year old was suffering from a severe case of chakra exhaustion.

"M'alright," Haruo half mumbled in reply as he weakly batted her hands away so he could curl up in a ball. "Juss tirert; used tomush shockra."

Haruo never heard her reply as he slipped into unconsciousness between one breath and the next.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Kirigakure no Kijin – Demon of the Mist  
Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu – Seven Swordsmen of the Mist  
Kopi Ninja no Kakashi – Copy Ninja Kakashi  
Kubikiri Bouchou – Decapitating Carving Knife or Executioner's Blade  
Oni Kyoudai – Demon Brothers  
Senshu – usurper or tyrant (a first name that I have saddled Gato with in more than one fic)  
Sumimasen – I'm sorry (formal)

**Notes:**

Faux pas – a social gaff or embarrassing social mistake (such as asking an invasive question at an inopportune time or arriving too early or too late for a meeting)

Hand signs – okay, I had someone send me a PM telling me that I am making the sign language used in the story far too complex because the user would have to spell out every single word that didn't have a specific sign associated with it; meaning that the sentences 'spoken' in AnBu Code should be parsed rather than written out as complete sentences. I am well aware of that, however, I am sure I am not the only one to automatically add in the extra or 'implied' words and punctuation when translating from sign language into a spoken language.

Basically, that means that when Haruo signed the sentence 'There's another ambush up ahead.' what he really signed was 'ambush ahead' while the full sentence is what he was thinking in his mind. The same applies to the signs he receives in answer as he is translating them and fitting them into a sentence that closely matches the meaning of the signs used. The fact that he has known both Naruto and Kakashi (and a number of other AnBu, including his father) for years means that he is familiar enough with their personal signing quirks to get the gist of what they are signing and how they would say it if what they signed was spoken out loud.

So, you can expect me to continue writing out complete sentences regardless of the fact that some words don't have associated signs and that some concepts might be too abstract to convey with signs. Not only does it make the story flow smoother so that you, my readers, can follow along; it is far easier to write instead of having to stop and parse together a sentence while dropping all of the little extra words that turn 'ambush ahead' into 'there is another ambush ahead'.

* * *

**AN:** _So, more changes from canon here; Naruto didn't almost skewer a white rabbit, there was no flying sword with Zabuza appearing like magic, and no verbal game of my ego is bigger than yours between Kakashi and Zabuza. Instead, we have Zabuza choosing another form of intimidation while hemming the group in with clones and Haruo eliminating the risk to the client. For those of you who wish to complain that I deviated so far from canon, the door is behind you so please show yourselves out. I've warned you repeatedly that this is an AU. _

_Also, the little information spiel that Haruo/Harry gave about Gato and Gato Corporation is obviously not canon and I only added it in to flesh out Gato's character a little more and make his person a little more important than he appears to be in canon. Also, keep in mind that a good chunk of Gato's wealth/worth as listed in the story comes from his ownership of Gato Corporation and all of its subsidiaries. So, he doesn't have that kind of cash on hand since most of it is tied up in assets. ~ Jenn_

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and remove unnecessary author's notes._


	19. The Bridge Builder's Family

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Nineteen: The Bridge Builder's Family

_April 24, 1990, 9:09 AM  
Unnamed Dirt Track, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

"Haruo…?" Sakura called out worriedly when he fell silent just before she felt the boy go still beneath her hands.

"Do you know what's wrong with him, girl?" Tazuna asked as he shifted and bumped Sakura on accident with his elbow due to how close they'd been kneeling to one another.

"I… I think he just passed out from exhaustion," Sakura hesitantly offered as she shifted her hands to Haruo's chest in order to check his breathing. "He's still breathing and I'm pretty certain he just said he'd used too much chakra to make the shield that's protecting us before he passed out."

"He sure is super clever for being such a little guy," Tazuna remarked with a trace of wonder in his voice. "I've never seen any one make a super shield out of dirt like that before."

"Yeah, he is," Sakura agreed softly as a curl of guilt coiled in her stomach when she recalled just how mean she'd been to both Haruo and Naruto all through the Academy and during the first few months they'd been a team together. "Haruo and Naruto are the strongest Genin out of our graduating class but I don't think any one ever realized it. I know I didn't. I used to think Haruo was nothing but a bratty little crybaby and that Naruto was an annoying idiot. It wasn't until I really looked at them and spent time training with them that I began to see just how wrong I was about them."

"The little guy's going to be alright, ne?"

"Aa, he should be. I'm sure he's just exhausted."

"How long do you think his super shield is going hold up?"

"I don't know but I'm sure we'll be safe in here."

"What happens if we run out of air?" Tazuna asked a little worriedly.

"I don't think that will happen," Sakura tried to assure the old man even as doubts filled her mind now that the fact that they were trapped inside of a sealed dome of compacted dirt had been thrown in front of her face like that. "I'm sure Haruo wouldn't have been taught a technique like this without being taught how to prevent someone trapped inside of it from suffocating. And the air is still fresh despite how long we've already been inside."

"I hope you're right, girl," Tazuna muttered under his breath as she felt him flinch beside her when another loud clang echoed off the roof of the dome.

_Me too,_ Sakura thought to herself as she carefully scooped her unconscious teammate up into her arms so that she could keep him safe in case their shelter fell. She had a feeling that Naruto would make her life a living hell if anything were to happen to the younger boy when she could have prevented it.

Nothing more was said between the two of them as Tazuna became lost in his thoughts while Sakura strained her ears to hear what was happening outside of the dome. Over the course of the next eight minutes, the thirteen year old heard the occasional faint yell (though she couldn't understand what was being said or figure out who was doing the yelling) in between the repeated attempts to cut or break Haruo's shield from the enemy Jounin. At the end of those eight minutes, the entire dome shook as something large, heavy, and wet struck the shield.

"How much longer do you think we'll have to hide in here?" Tazuna inquired as the strange, muffled sucking sound caused by that last attack faded away and the world outside their sanctuary fell silent.

"Until Kakashi-sensei tells us it's safe for us to come out or until Haruo wakes back up and lets us know if there's any one outside waiting to ambush us," Sakura replied as she flexed her knees to make certain her legs hadn't gone numb from holding her awkward crouch for so long while her Inner Sakura silently yelled at her sensei to hurry up.

"Do you really think your sensei is strong enough to defeat that other guy?"

"Aa, my otousan said he's one of the strongest Jounin in Konoha."

Another three minutes would crawl by before someone on the outside made their presence known by tapping out an all clear signal in Morse Code on the shield using the ring-end of a kunai. Sakura carefully set Haruo back down on the ground and shifted so she could retrieve a kunai from her utility pouch and waited for the person outside to end their message before she tapped out the standard reply sequence that Kakashi had taught them to use to confirm the identity of the sender.

When she received the correct counter response and the code that identified the sender as Kakashi, she tapped out a short report on Haruo's condition along with a note that she and their client were unharmed. There was a short pause after her reply before Kakashi ordered her to shift herself, Haruo, and Tazuna to the far side of the dome so that he could cut them free of Haruo's shield. Sakura tapped out an acknowledgement before she put her kunai away so she could collect Haruo off the floor once more.

"Tazuna-san, I need you to move backwards until your back hits the wall; Kakashi-sensei is going to cut a door in the shield so that we can climb out," Sakura instructed as she shifted herself to the opposite side of the shelter; a small part of her absently noticing the out of place strip of grass beneath her as she sat back against the wall.

"Are you certain that it's your sensei out there tapping on the dome and not the other guy?"

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei taught us specific codes to use in situations like this so that we can confirm the sender of the message is who they say they are."

"Do you guys get into trouble like this that often?"

"Ano, not exactly," Sakura replied as she felt Tazuna shift up against the wall beside her. "It's happened often enough to other teams in the past that most teams plan for situations like this so they don't panic." She then let go of Haruo with one hand before she knocked on the wall with her knuckles to let Kakashi know they were out of the way. "Half the battle in any fight is being prepared for anything the enemy could possibly throw at you."

"That sounds like some super advice," Tazuna remarked absently before he fell silent once more.

A few seconds after Tazuna had fallen silent, the darkness inside of the dome was pierced by a chakra saturated kunai that buzzed with the faint sounds of chirping birds. After she blinked away the light spots from the sudden bright light after sitting in a pitch black shelter for so long, Sakura watched in fascination as the kunai sliced through the dome wall was easily as a knife cut through tofu. It was rather scary to think how easy it actually was for their sensei to cut through the dome because it meant that there were others out there that could do the same thing.

Less than a minute later, the new door was peeled outwards to let in a square of morning light. Kakashi's face appeared in the new opening a second later and Sakura felt a wave of relief rush through her as she gave her teacher a tight grin the moment his eyes found hers in the dim light of the shelter. Kakashi smiled back in return (well, she thought he was smiling; it was hard to tell through his mask and the shadows currently covering his face though).

"You can come out now, you two; the fight's over," Kakashi stated before he disappeared from the opening.

"What happened to the man that attacked us, sensei?" Sakura asked as she scrambled across the makeshift shelter and easily climbed out through the door while carrying Haruo despite the fact that the door sat nearly two feet above the ground level of the dome (the long weeks of running through that blasted obstacle course had certainly paid off) onto the now muddy dirt track they'd been traveling on.

"Momentarily defeated and off licking his wounds, no doubt."

"I thought you said he was dead after that masked dude took him down with the senbon," Naruto interjected as he came trotting around the curve of the dorm. The blond then glanced at Sakura and gasped really loud the moment his eyes fell on Haruo's unconscious form. "What happened to Haruo? Is he hurt? He's still alive, right?"

"He's unconscious; he told me he used too much chakra when he made the dome to protect us just before he passed out earlier," Sakura answered as she let her noisiest teammate take the younger boy from her arms.

"You're an ahou, Haruo," Naruto huffed under his breath in fond exasperation as he settled the smaller boy on his back with the help of a solid clone that she hadn't seen him make.

"His quick thinking gave us an advantage in our fight and while exhausting himself was a foolish thing to do, the fact that he made certain he did not leave himself or our client unprotected means that he at least planned ahead before he acted," Kakashi pointed out as he reached out to check Haruo's pulse. "The earth shield was also something he's been working hard on perfecting since the end of December."

Sakura quickly realized that the dome shield must have been one of the things that Haruo had worked on each time one of Kakashi's clones dragged the younger boy off to train in the trees. She then spun on her heel to inspect the shelter from the outside and mentally winced when she saw the number of dents, scratches, and scuff marks that covered the outside of the dome. It didn't take a genius to realize that each mark represented an attempt to break through the shield.

"How come it was so easy for you to cut through the shield but all of No-Brow's attempts failed?" Naruto asked as he frowned at the newly cut door.

"Trade secret," Kakashi quipped in reply before he gave the blond a gentle push away from the opening before he did something that made the entire dome collapse back into dirt. "We really don't have time to sit and discuss it right now though. Tazuna, if you'll take the lead? Sakura and Sasuke, I want the two of you to stick to Tazuna's side and watch his back. Naruto, you'll be in the middle with Haruo while I take the rear."

"It's this way," Tazuna stated in a subdued tone as his eyes lingered on Haruo's small form before he turned and began walking towards the small bridge that spanned the river that cut across the dirt path they'd been following when they had been ambushed.

Sakura hurried after him and fell into step with the old man a moment later while a silent and obviously grumpy Sasuke took his position on the client's opposite side. The pink-haired kunoichi briefly glanced at her third teammate before she focused her attention on the sparse strand of trees that lined the edge of the path on her unoccupied side. After a few minutes of walking, Sakura's thoughts were drawn back to her youngest teammate and she couldn't help but glance back over her shoulder to where Naruto was carrying his friend on his back.

Turning her eyes forward once more, Sakura silently wondered why Haruo was so strong when he was younger than the rest of their team. Naruto and Sasuke were also both strong but Haruo's strength stood out because he was only eleven years old while the rest of them were twelve or thirteen. A frown worked its way onto Sakura's face as she recalled how small and light Haruo was when compared to other boys (and girls) his age. She eventually decided one or both of his parents must have been exceptionally short and petite and pushed the matter from her mind.

Her thoughts once again returned to Haruo's skills as she recalled how easily he'd pulled the dirt up around them and turned the dirt into a shield strong enough to block Zabuza's giant sword. She knew Sasuke couldn't do something like that. In fact, there had been a lot of things that she and Sasuke hadn't been able to do that Haruo and Naruto both could when they were first assigned to the same team after they'd graduated from the Academy. It was like the two boys had had extra training while they were still in the Academy.

Only, that made no sense. Why would those two boys have extra training when the rest of them had not? Why hadn't Sasuke at least had that extra training as well? Back when she'd still been a complete fan-girl, Sakura would have readily believed that Sasuke deserved that kind of special training over and above any one else. Yet he had not received it. In fact, Kakashi seemed rather upset that Sakura and Sasuke hadn't received the same training. Meaning, in Sakura's mind, that someone had prevented them from getting that training.

_Did that mean that it was the Academy that was supposed to give everyone that extra training?_ Sakura wondered silently as she once again scanned along the path side looking for anything out of place. _Or was it extra training that the clan kids got from their families? No, that's not right; if that was true, then Kakashi-sensei would not have expected me to have the same training because I'm not from a clan. Though, otousan is a shinobi and sensei might have assumed that he would have taught me that stuff growing up._

After another couple of minutes, Sakura made a decision to ask Ino about the extra lessons since her former friend turned rival was from a clan and would know if the clans and shinobi families gave their children extra lessons. She also made a mental note to let Ino know that she [Sakura] was no longer interested in Sasuke; she'd much rather have her friend back than to continue fighting with her over a jerk.

And yes, Sakura had grown to firmly believe that Sasuke was a bona fide jerk of epic proportions.

He also had a really nasty mean streak that she hadn't seen when they'd still been in the Academy. Or maybe she hadn't seen it because she'd been far too busy mooning after him instead of paying attention to the things he did or said or even trying to get to know the real him. Looking back, Sakura couldn't even remember why she'd started crushing on Sasuke in the first place. No, that wasn't quite true. She'd only claimed to like Sasuke because all of the popular girls had liked Sasuke. And then she'd gotten in that stupid fight with Ino over him and things had snowballed from there.

Glancing to her left, Sakura eyed Sasuke's profile for a moment before she returned to watching her side of the path as she reaffirmed her decision to leave her childish crush on the last Uchiha firmly in the past where it belonged. The memory of Sasuke threatening Haruo for defending her two days earlier certainly helped her resolve. A small smile briefly flitted across Sakura's face as she recalled the way that Haruo and Naruto had both accepted her tentative offer of friendship. It felt kind of nice to have more friends; Ino had been her first and only friend before they'd become rivals.

_And Haruo is so adorable,_ _SHANNARO!_ Inner Sakura belted out in Sakura's mind; her alter ego's declaration making the young kunoichi blush lightly.

Not that Sakura was developing a crush on the younger boy or anything; she just thought he was cute. Much like a kitten or puppy could be considered cute. His eyes were particularly pretty too; like gemstones.

Sakura shook away the nonsensical thoughts about her fellow Genin and focused her attention on the mission lest her inattention get her into trouble with Kakashi or worse, get one of her teammates or their client injured. To Sakura's vast relief, the rest of the journey was uneventful and uninterrupted and they would arrive at the bridge builder's home around two in the afternoon.

As they left the forest behind, the pink haired teen let her eyes take in the wide clearing bordering a large lake. Situated on the edge of the lake, a large two story house had been built on stilts above the shallows while a large windmill sat on solid ground right next to it. Both buildings were surrounded and connected by a porch-like dock that extended out into the lake where an old fishing boat was tied up on the far end. Sakura was rather surprised by both the size and the simple elegance of the house; it was not the kind of house she'd imagined their client lived in.

Part of her surprise stemmed from the fact that Tazuna's first impression had not been a very positive one; what with the drunken slurs he'd directed at Naruto and Haruo and the fact that he'd lied about the mission. Once she stopped to think about it though, she realized that she should not be surprised since the man had probably designed and built the house himself since he was an architect. Or was he an engineer? No matter what his official profession was, the man was obviously skilled given the size of the bridge they'd seen earlier that morning.

Their group had barely set foot on the porch when a young woman around Kakashi's age stepped outside brandishing a broom at them. The moment the woman saw Tazuna, she lowered the broom and gasped out a relieved, "Tousan!"

"Tadaima, musume," Tazuna murmured in reply as he stepped forward to greet the young woman and Sakura politely turned away from them to give them a little privacy. After a few minutes, Tazuna cleared his voice and announced, "Shinobi-san, please allow me to introduce you to my daughter, Tsunami. Musume, these super folks are the shinobi that I hired to protect the bridge. Don't let their age fool you, dear; they really are super shinobi – especially the little guy."

"Haruo's the best, dattebayo," Naruto readily agreed as he flashed a grin at Tazuna in response to the praise he'd just given their youngest teammate though Sakura noticed that Sasuke was scowling for the same reason.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tsunami-san," Kakashi murmured in reply as he bowed to the woman. "My name is Hatake Kakashi and these are my cute little students; Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and the snoring bundle of trouble on Naruto's back is Haruo. If it isn't much trouble, Haruo could use a futon or a couch to sleep off the chakra exhaustion he's experiencing as a result of his quick thinking in protecting your father earlier."

"The super little guy sure saved my bacon, Tsunami," Tazuna agreed solemnly.

"Please follow me and I will show you to the guest room where you can make him comfortable," Tsunami stated after shooting her father a worried look in response to the implication that he'd been in real danger not that long ago.

"Naruto, pass Haruo to me and then go secure the perimeter; keep the traps simple, non-lethal, and off the well beaten paths due to the presence of civilians," Kakashi ordered as he moved up to stand behind Naruto.

"Hai," Naruto replied as he reluctantly allowed their sensei to take Haruo from his back before he headed back towards the forest as a dozen clones poofed into existence in a burst of smoke.

"Sasuke, you are to patrol the edge of the lake and keep watch for potential enemies seeking to cross that way; if you do spot an intruder, you are to notify me immediately; under no circumstance are you to confront or attack them, do you understand?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted irritably before he stocked off.

"Sakura, you're with me for now," Kakashi added as he turned to follow Tazuna's daughter.

"Hai, sensei," Sakura murmured as she trailed after the Jounin.

The woman soon led the two of them into the house, up a central staircase to the second floor, and down the hall to an unfurnished room. Tsunami went straight to the closet the moment she stepped into the room and withdrew a spare futon and a couple of thin blankets that she deftly shook out and spread onto the floor. She then stepped back to watch Kakashi settle Haruo onto the futon, remove his pack, and tuck him beneath a beneath the covers.

"Why did you bring such a young boy on such a dangerous mission, Hatake-san?" Tsunami asked as Kakashi settled down on the floor beside Haruo. "As much as I appreciate the fact that he helped protect my father, he's too young; he can't be much older than my son!"

"Haruo is my student and he is a shinobi; his age is irrelevant," Kakashi replied firmly. "All four of my students have spent months training in preparation for taking their first mission out of the village and I would not have taken your father's mission if I had not thought that they were ready. That said, if your father had not lied about the nature of the mission, our team never would have been assigned to this mission due to the level of threat involved. Despite the fact that this mission is above my students' pay grade, I am more than capable of covering for any experience they lack."

Any response Tsunami might have made to Kakashi's statement was cut off before she could open her mouth when Haruo began shifting restlessly on the futon; his hands searching for something he obviously couldn't find. The younger Genin began trembling a moment later as he mumbled Naruto's name in his sleep and to Sakura's surprise, Kakashi placed his hand on Haruo's forehead and channeled a brief pulse of chakra into the younger boy to knock him back out.

"What'd you do that for, sensei?" Sakura inquired with a slight frown.

"Haruo is a natural born chakra sensor and due to how large Naruto's reserves are, Haruo can always tell when Naruto is nearby. Unfortunately, Naruto is currently not close enough for him to sense and the hole that lack of chakra left in his senses was enough to wake him up. I merely put him into a deeper sleep to prevent him from panicking or attempting to use a jutsu to find Naruto because he can't afford to expend any chakra in his current state."

"Why would he panic just because Naruto isn't nearby though?"

Kakashi sighed as he absently combed his fingers through Haruo's hair (an oddly parental gesture from the man) before he quietly answered, "It really isn't my place to answer that question. All I will say is that Naruto is very important to Haruo and leave it at that."

"Should I go get Naruto then, sensei?"

"No, that won't be necessary, Naruto will come looking for Haruo once he's finished trapping the edge of the clearing."

"Did you need me to fetch you any medication for the child?" Tsunami inquired and Sakura nearly jumped upon hearing her voice; she'd forgotten the woman was still in the room.

"No, that won't be necessary, Tsunami-san; he just needs rest."

"Very well, Hatake-san; if you need anything, please don't hesitate to let myself or my father know," Tsunami stated before she withdrew from the room.

Not more than three minutes after she left, Naruto popped into the room via the window to announce, "All done, sensei."

"Good job; why don't you send a clone to relieve Sasuke and tell him to join us so we can discuss the earlier fight and our plans for the week."

"Hai," Naruto agreed before two clones popped into existence and left through the window while the original Naruto toed off his sandals before he bounded across the room to drop down onto the futon beside Haruo. Sakura was quick to notice the way the blond positioned himself so that he was pressed up against Haruo's side. A heartbeat later, she was distracted from her observation when Naruto asked, "How long will it be until Haruo wakes up?"

"Tomorrow morning, at the earliest but he'll need to stay in bed until the day after tomorrow."

"He's going to be okay, right? I mean, there isn't anything really wrong with him, right?"

"Yes, he'll be just fine; he just used far too much chakra when he sought to protect our client and he'll be tired and sore for a couple of days as a result."

It was at that point that they were joined by an irritated Sasuke; the broody Uchiha sending a heated glare in Naruto's direction before he propped himself up against the wall beside the door and crossed his arms over his chest. Sakura wrinkled her nose in response to her former crush's childish behavior before she refocused her attention on Kakashi.

"Now that everyone is here, there's a few things we need to discuss," Kakashi stated in his 'mission leader tone' that lacked any of the playfulness the man usually displayed during their training sessions. "First, Zabuza is not actually dead. He was merely placed into a death-like state by the masked shinobi that had been posing as a Kiri Hunter Nin. The reason why I played along with the act was to prevent Zabuza's accomplice from realizing that I was already aware of his trickery and allowing him to think that they could use our 'ignorance' to their advantage."

"What exactly happened?" Sakura inquired as she glanced between her two conscious teammates before returning her gaze to their sensei.

"Sensei was kicking Zabuza's ass and then this creepy teen in a mask nailed him with a couple of senbon and he was like 'thank you for weakening my target' before he disappeared with the body after Kakashi said that Zabuza guy was dead," Naruto blithely supplied as he rocked in place. "And I took out a bunch of Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin that kept trying to break through Haruo's shield with their swords. Man did it really piss No-Brow off when he chipped his giant sword on Haruo's dirt shield the one time the original tried to cut through it after he saw his clones couldn't do it."

"If he's still alive, does that mean he'll come after Tazuna-san again?" Sakura asked worriedly as she recalled how frightening the brief glimpse of the man had been before Haruo had locked her inside of his shield with Tazuna and himself.

"Aa, he will," Kakashi agreed in a grim tone. "We'll most likely have to face his accomplice at the same time."

"We'll just have to kick their asses again," Naruto loudly declared.

"Keep your voice down," Kakashi ordered as he reached out to lightly slap Naruto upside the head. "And the next time we face Zabuza and his masked friend, we'll likely have a harder time defeating them because they'll know not to underestimate us."

"How much time do you think we have before that happens, sensei?" Sakura asked before she bit her lip in worry.

"Between five and seven days, at most; since that's about how long it'll take Zabuza's body to recover from being forced into a death-like state. That will give us roughly five days to prepare for the inevitable fight."

"What are we going to be doing? Are you going to teach us some cool new powerful jutsu?" Naruto asked as he twisted around to give their sensei a hopeful look.

"Not quite, I'm going to teach Sasuke and Sakura Kinobori no Waza so that they can take their chakra control to the next level while I'll teach you Suimen Hokou no Waza for basically the same reason."

"What about Haruo? Aren't you going to teach him Suimen Hokou no Waza as well?"

"No, he's not allowed to skip over the more fiddly chakra control exercises that fall in between the tree climbing and water walking exercises that you still have far too much chakra and too little control to learn at the moment. I also don't want him throwing about large amounts of chakra so soon after he exhausted himself; so, I will have him work on other things while the three of you are improving your control. We'll also need to take turns watching over Tazuna and his bridge in case Gato hires someone else once he learns that Zabuza was incapacitated."

"What good is a chakra control exercise going to do against someone as strong as Zabuza?" Sasuke demanded as he spoke up for the first time since he'd entered the room.

"It will increase the effectiveness of the jutsu you already know by decreasing the amount of chakra you waste each time you use a jutsu. Does anyone else have any questions about your future training? No? Good. Moving on, I'm going to set up a rotating schedule for guard duty for the three of you that will have one of you pulling guard duty on the bridge, one sticking around the house to protect Tazuna's family, and one off training. Every four hours, the one training will take the place of the one guarding Tazuna's family who in turn will go relieve the one on bridge duty."

"What are you going to be doing, sensei?" Sakura asked as she immediately realized that he hadn't included himself in the rotation schedule at the same time as Naruto demanded, "What about Haruo?"

"Haruo is not going to be in any condition to stand guard for at least a week, Naruto. And Sakura, I'm going to be scouting about the area and gathering intel in between keeping an eye on the four of you. I'll also be escorting everyone back and forth between Tazuna's house and the bridge to ensure that no one is ambushed while traveling alone."

"How's that going to work when it took us hours to get here after we were dropped off?" Naruto asked as he scrunched his face up in a puzzled scowl.

"The port is actually less than an hour's walk to the west," Tazuna answered from where he was hovering in the doorway and Sakura wondered how long he'd been standing there listening to their discussion since she hadn't heard him arrive. "I had my friend drop us off on the opposite side of the island because I suspected the bridge was being watched by Gato's thugs. I thought we were being super sneaky but we were found anyway."

"Your ruse might have worked if all we were dealing with a bunch of bandits and civilian thugs," Kakashi blandly stated; his words making Tazuna flinch and Sakura wondered if their sensei had purposefully worded his statement in such a way as to remind Tazuna that he'd basically lied about the mission.

Tazuna fidgeted for another minute before he cleared his throat and announced, "Tsunami wished for me to ask if any of you had any food allergies or if there was something one of you would absolutely not eat."

"How much of a strain is feeding us going to place on your supplies and finances?" Kakashi asked instead of answering the implied question in Tazuna's statement.

"It'll be rough but we've a steady supply of fish from the lake and Tsunami was able to salvage part of her garden after Gato's men ruined it shortly after I left."

"I suspected as much," Kakashi replied grimly before he turned to Naruto. "Naruto, I need you to dig into Haruo's pack and dig out his supply scrolls; we'll be pooling our resources so as not to burden our clients with five extra mouths."

"Which scrolls did you want?" Naruto asked as he carefully dug into Haruo's pack to pull out several scrolls.

"All of the ones holding food."

"Okay."

"How many of these scrolls hold instant ramen?" Kakashi inquired in a dry tone once Naruto had stopped pulling scrolls out of Haruo's pack.

"Just one; we left most of the ramen at home in a storage scroll. This one has a bunch of rice and different kinds of dried beans. These four have fresh fruits. Those eight all have veggies. Those two have things like flour, sugar, and a bunch of different spices. This one has all of our bottled drinks. That one has butter, eggs, cheese, and other cold stuff. And I think this one has sweets in it. We've more than enough stuff here to feed, like, ten people for two months."

"That's more food than I've seen in Nami's markets in months," Tazuna quietly exclaimed as he eyed the scrolls with considerable interest.

"Why did Haruo bring so much food with him?" Sakura asked as she watched Kakashi open each scroll and skim through the storage seals that lined the entire length of each scroll. "And where did the two of you get so many storage scrolls? I remember Iruka-sensei saying something about them being really expensive and hard to get."

"I helped Haruo strip his garden of everything edible so it wouldn't go to waste while we were gone for so long," Naruto answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "He gave a bunch of stuff to those people that he always shares with and then brought the rest with us since sensei said to pack for a month. We also packed up all of the food we had in our apartment so it didn't spoil while we were gone. And Haruo and I made the scrolls ourselves."

"Who taught you how to make storage seals?" Sasuke demanded with a small frown.

"Inu-chan taught us how to make them a few years ago after a couple of bullies ruined a bunch of fruits Haruo had been carrying."

"Naruto, why don't you and Sakura take these scrolls down to the kitchen and unseal those supplies that Tsunami-san will need for the next two days," Kakashi instructed as he dumped half of the scrolls into Naruto's hands before he passed the rest of them to Sakura.

"But Haruo…"

"Isn't going to be going any where any time soon and I will be right here."

Naruto huffed under his breath before he slunk out of the room with a scowl on his face and Sakura glanced between his back and Haruo's sleeping form a couple of times before she hurried after him. She would catch up to him just as he reached the staircase and as they headed down to the first floor, Sakura glanced at the blond from the corner of her eye as she considered what she knew of him and Haruo.

"You and Haruo are really close, aren't you?" Sakura tentatively asked as they reached the bottom step.

"You'd better believe it!"

"How did the two of you meet?"

"We lived in the same orphanage together and I saved him from a pair of bullies and we've been friends ever since."

"That's how Ino and I became friends too. Well, sort of. Ami and a bunch of the other girls were teasing me and Ino came over to cheer me up and we were the best of friends until we… no, until I let Sasuke come between us. It all seems so silly now. All the fighting we did over Sasuke when he never even gave us the time of day. I miss her."

"Well, you can always try and make up with her when we get back."

"I plan to but I'm scared it's too late to get my friend back though."

"Nah, it's never too late to make up with a friend."

"I hope you're right," Sakura sighed as the two of them finally managed to find the kitchen where Tsunami was busy searching through her cupboards for something to fix for supper.

"Hey, neechan, Kakashi-sensei asked us to share our supplies with you," Naruto loudly declared as he dumped the scrolls he had been carrying on the table.

"Supplies…?" Tsunami repeated in confusion as she glanced between the scrolls on the table and the two teammates a couple of times.

"These are storage scrolls, Tsunami-san; each one is filled with storage seals holding a wide assortment of fresh produce, dried goods, diary products, and other food items," Sakura explained as she set the scrolls she'd been carrying down on the table, randomly selected one of the scrolls, and unrolled it to reveal the neatly formed lines of seals. "This one holds an assortment of fresh vegetables and squash. If you tell us what you'd need for two days worth of meals for your family plus the five of us, we'll unseal enough food to supplement what you already have on hand."

Sakura then channeled a bit of chakra into the first seal and released a large pile of asparagus stalks. The pink haired kunoichi wasn't certain who was more surprised by the sheer volume of asparagus that had been held in the seal; her or Tsunami. Once the older woman got over her shock, she inspected several of the stalks before collecting several handfuls and letting Sakura know she could put the rest away.

Over the next hour, Sakura and Naruto would each unseal a single storage seal while Tsunami continued to marvel over the sheer volume of food they had brought and hesitantly took a small fraction of each item unsealed. By the time they'd finished going through all of the scrolls, Tsunami's counters were packed with enough food to feed a small army and the woman just sort of stared at the food with a dazed expression. Sakura didn't blame her. She too had been shocked at the amount of food Haruo had been carrying on him.

After a couple of minutes, Tsunami shook herself out of her stupor and began putting everything except what she would need for that evening's supper away while profusely thanking the two of them for the food. The woman had almost finished putting things away when a small boy wandered into the kitchen before he stopped to stare suspiciously at Naruto and Sakura.

"Who are they, kaasan?" the boy somewhat rudely demanded.

"They're two of the shinobi that your grandfather hired to escort him home," Tsunami answered as she stopped what she was doing and turned to face her son. "There are three more upstairs. All five of them will be staying with us until your grandfather's bridge is finished." She then turned to Naruto and Sakura as she added, "This is my son, Inari."

Sakura opened her mouth to introduce herself to the boy only for her to close it when he darted out of the room before she could speak up. Closing her mouth, Sakura turned to glance at Naruto (who was staring in the direction that Inari had disappeared in with a puzzled frown on his face) before she turned to glance at Tsunami. The woman looked rather sad and resigned before she forced herself to give Sakura a smile that the thirteen year old thought looked rather strained.

"Forgive my son's rudeness, he is… unhappy with the way things are. He's also rather shy around strangers."

Sakura automatically murmured an appropriate reply to reassure the woman that they weren't offended while her mind tried to figure out what it was about the boy that seemed so familiar.

* * *

_April 25, 1990, 9:03 AM  
Port City Bay, Port City, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Thirty year old Sirius Black pulled the old wool cloak he wore tighter around his gaunt body to ward off the morning chill as he stood on the ship's deck and stared at the unfamiliar land stretching off into the distance. After a couple of minutes, he tipped his head backwards to stare at the scattered wisps of clouds sliding smoothly across the expanse of unpolluted sky that spread above him. He then closed his eyes and breathed deeply of the clean, if chilly, air and silently reveled in the knowledge that he was free at last.

A grin stretched across his lips a heartbeat later when he remembered that he'd be able to see (and hold) his godson for the first time in nine years in just a few days. The size of his grin shrank a little when it occurred to him that little Harry (who probably wasn't quite so little any more) might not even remember him. Sirius reopened his eyes and let his gaze fall on the small town that was steadily growing larger as the ship he was on drew closer to the land as he tried not to cry at the thought of his godson blankly staring at him without recognition.

"_Chin up, Padfoot; Harry will love you whether he remembers you or not,_" Remus assured him as the werewolf joined Sirius and clapped him on the back.

"_It just hurts to think of how much time I lost while I was in Azkaban,_" Sirius replied a little hoarsely; his throat still unused to speaking after his eight year stint in the wizarding prison. "_I missed out on so many things._"

"_I'm sorry I didn't get you out of the sooner…_"

"_Not your fault, Moony. I blame Dumbledore; he was the one that left me to rot in prison for years. If not for you, I'd have been there until I drew my last breath._"

"_Technically, you were there until you drew your last breath,_" Remus countered with a small smirk. "_At least as far as the wizarding world is concerned you were._"

"_A right proper prank worthy of the Marauder name, that was too,_" Sirius quipped in return as he recalled the golem that Remus had left behind in his old cell the day he'd broken him out of Azkaban.

The two wizards shared a quiet laugh over the slightly morbid prank that they'd played on the wizarding world. Silence fell over the two of them a few seconds later as they turned their thoughts to the future and the hoops that they would most likely have to jump through in order to be a part of Harry's life. As much as he hated the mere idea of dancing to another's tune, Sirius would gladly do whatever it took to stay near his godson.

He owed it to James and Lily to be there for their son since they were unable to do so themselves. Having Moony along for the ride just meant that their chances of being successful in their endeavor to insert themselves into Harry's life were fairly high. Not that they needed luck at this point; since Lily's predictions were never wrong and she had said she saw them teaching little Harry how to use his magic.

Sirius's earlier grin returned full-force a split second later as his thoughts again returned to his pending reunion with his godson.

_Things are finally looking up for this old dog_, Sirius thought to himself as he returned his gaze to the untouched beauty of the country that would soon become his new home.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Ano – uh/um/er  
Kinobori no Waza – Tree climbing  
Musume – daughter  
Okaasan/kaasan – mother  
Oneechan/neechan – older sister (can also be used to address an older woman/girl)  
Otousan/tousan – father  
Shannaro (also spelled Shānnarō) – from what I understand, this doesn't have an exact translation (much like dattebayo &amp; dattebane) but has been translated as 'hell yeah' or 'damn it' and it is Inner Sakura's catch phrase. I won't be using it often as I have no plans to give Inner Sakura much screen time (mostly because I won't be writing from Sakura's PoV very often since she is hard for me to write – mostly due to Inner Sakura).  
Suimen Hokou no Waza – Water walking  
Tadaima – I'm home, I'm back, etc.

**Notes:**

Bona fide – authentic/genuine

* * *

Okay, I was asked in a PM for the stats of Haruo and Naruto and realized that I'd not even mapped those out when it's usually one of the first things I do when building my characters' backgrounds. That's what happens when I get too wrapped up in a plot and my muse doesn't give me time to flesh out all of the little plans floating about in my head. I also meant to post these in the first chapter of the Wave Arc but forgot. Anyway, here are the stats for all of Team 7 (yep, I added in extra ones to make up for the late posting).

**Name:** Haruo (Potter Harry)  
**Age:** 9  
**Kekkei Genkai:** Mokuton, Mahou  
**Description:** Mokuton; user is able to blend their water and earth natured chakra to form the element wood. Mahou; the user naturally absorbs Nature Chakra that is subsequently blended with their spiritual energy to form an energy similar to Sage Mode Chakra and use this energy to manipulate their surroundings to a higher degree than simple ninjutsu.  
**Note:** Mahou users are identified as Trueborn Sages by the Summoning Clans and have been known to attract the attention of both summoned animals and normal animals.

**STATs – (At Time of Graduation) **

**Stamina:** 2.0 (Age Impacted Rating)  
**Speed:** 2.5  
**Force:** 1.5 (Age Impacted Rating)  
**Taijutsu:** 1.75 (Age Impacted Rating)  
**Ninjutsu:** 5.0 (Kekkei Genkai Influenced)  
**Genjutsu:** 1.5  
**Fuuinjutsu:** 2.0  
**Kenjutsu:** N/A  
**Iryojutsu:** N/A  
**Shurikenjutsu:** 2.25  
**Intelligence:** 4.0  
**Hand Seals:** 2.0

**Total Ability:** 24.5 (out of 60)/ 29.5 including LP  
**Latent Potential (LP):** 5.0  
**Luck:** 5.0

**Chakra Rating:** Low Jounin level reserves, High Genin level control  
**Primary Chakra Nature:** Water, Earth  
**Secondary Chakra Nature:** UNKNOWN  
**Primary Mahou Nature:** Fire  
**Secondary Mahou Nature:** Wind

**Skill Levels –**

**Physical Condition:** Low Genin (Age Impacted Rating)  
**Weapons handling:** Mid Genin  
**Battlefield Strategy:** High Genin

**Overall Ranking:** Mid Level Genin

* * *

**Name:** Uzumaki Naruto  
**Age:** 12  
**Kekkei Genkai:** Uzumaki Chakra Formation  
**Description:** User is able to form solid objects/weapons from their chakra  
**Note:** The initial form that Naruto's Chakra Formation took upon activation was 'chains' (same as his mother before him)

**STATs – (At Time of Graduation) **

**Stamina:** 5.0 (Jinchuuriki Influenced)  
**Speed:** 2.0  
**Force:** 3.0  
**Taijutsu:** 2.5  
**Ninjutsu:** 4.0 (Jinchuuriki Influenced)  
**Genjutsu:** 0.0  
**Fuuinjutsu:** 2.0  
**Kenjutsu:** N/A  
**Iryojutsu:** N/A  
**Shurikenjutsu:** 2.25  
**Intelligence:** 3.75  
**Hand Seals:** 2.0

**Total Ability:** 26.5 (out of 60)/ 31.5 including LP  
**Latent Potential (LP):** 5.0  
**Luck:** 5.0

**Chakra Rating:** Kage level reserves, Low Genin level control**  
Primary Chakra Nature:** Wind  
**Secondary Chakra Nature:** Water (very minor)

**Skill Levels – **

**Physical Condition:** High Genin  
**Weapons handling:** Mid Genin  
**Battlefield Strategy:** Low Chuunin

**Overall Ranking:** Mid to High Level Genin

* * *

**Name:** Haruno Sakura

**Age:** 12  
**Kekkei Genkai:** None  
**Description:** N/A  
**Note:** N/A

**STATs – (At Time of Graduation) **

**Stamina:** 1.0  
**Speed:** 1.0  
**Force:** 1.0  
**Taijutsu:** 1.5  
**Ninjutsu:** 1.0  
**Genjutsu:** 2.5  
**Fuuinjutsu:** N/A  
**Kenjutsu:** N/A  
**Iryojutsu:** N/A  
**Shurikenjutsu:** 1.5  
**Intelligence:** 4.75  
**Hand Seals:** 1.0

**Total Ability:** 15.25 (out of 60)/ 19.75 including LP  
**Latent Potential (LP):** 4.5  
**Luck:** 3.0

**Chakra Rating:** Low Genin level reserves, Mid Jounin level control  
**Primary Chakra Nature:** Earth  
**Secondary Chakra Nature:** Water (Minor)

**Skill Levels – **

**Physical Condition:** Low Genin  
**Weapons handling:** Low Genin  
**Battlefield Strategy:** Low Genin

**Overall Ranking:** Low Genin

* * *

**Name:** Uchiha Sasuke  
**Age:** 12  
**Kekkei Genkai:** Sharingan  
**Description:** Doujutsu that allows the user to copy jutsu (nin, gen, &amp; tai), to see chakra, and increased visual perception (that when trained could potentially allow their to read and predict their opponent's movements).  
**Note:** Sasuke's Sharingan is currently dormant (locked)

**STATs – (At Time of Graduation) **

**Stamina:** 4.0  
**Speed:** 2.0  
**Force:** 3.0  
**Taijutsu:** 3.0  
**Ninjutsu:** 3.0  
**Genjutsu:** 2.0  
**Fuuinjutsu:** N/A  
**Kenjutsu:** N/A  
**Iryojutsu:** N/A  
**Shurikenjutsu:** 3.75  
**Intelligence:** 4.0  
**Hand Seals:** 2.5

**Total Ability:** 24.25 (out of 60)/ 29.25 including LP  
**Latent Potential (LP):** 5.0  
**Luck:** 3.0

**Chakra Rating:** High Chuunin level reserves, Low Genin level control  
**Primary Chakra Nature:** Lightning  
**Secondary Chakra Nature:** Fire

**Skill Levels – **

**Physical Condition:** Mid Genin  
**Weapons handling:** High Genin  
**Battlefield Strategy:** High Genin

**Overall Ranking:** Mid Genin

* * *

**Name:** Hatake Kakashi  
**Age:** 29  
**Kekkei Genkai:** Sharingan, White Chakra  
**Description:** Sharingan; doujutsu that allows the user to copy jutsu (nin, gen, &amp; tai), to see chakra, and increased visual perception (that when trained could potentially allow their to read and predict their opponent's movements). White Chakra; a dense, lightning natured chakra that enhances the mental facilities, senses, and speed of the user in addition to doubling the size of their normal chakra reserves as it forms in a second set of coils linked to the normal coils of the user.  
**Note:** Kakashi's Sharingan is implanted (source: deceased teammate; Uchiha Obito)

**STATs – (As of the Mizuki Incident) **

**Stamina:** 4.0  
**Speed:** 4.0  
**Force:** 3.5  
**Taijutsu:** 4.0  
**Ninjutsu:** 5.0  
**Genjutsu:** 4.0  
**Fuuinjutsu:** 2.25  
**Kenjutsu:** 3.5  
**Iryojutsu:** 1.5  
**Shurikenjutsu:** 4.0  
**Intelligence:** 4.75  
**Hand Seals: **5.0

**Total Ability:** 45.5 (out of 60)/ 49.5 including LP  
**Latent Potential (LP):** 4.0  
**Luck:** 3.0

**Chakra Rating:** Near Kage level reserves, High Jounin level control  
**Primary Chakra Nature:** Lightning  
**Secondary Chakra Nature:** Fire, Earth

**Skill Levels – **

**Physical Condition: **High Jounin  
**Weapons handling:** High Jounin  
**Battlefield Strategy:** High Jounin

**Overall Ranking:** High Jounin

* * *

**Note:** I based the STATs of Team Seven (Bar Haruo's) off of their canon stats from the first Data Book. The biggest changes were made to Naruto's STATs, though there were some changes made to the others as well. Additionally, I added in a few STATs that weren't originally covered (such as kenjutsu). You can expect the four Genin's STATs to change (improve) over time as they grow older and stronger.

* * *

**AN:** _Just a few quick notes before I close this out and post. First, the battle w/ Zabuza obviously ended the same way as it did in canon, even though we didn't see it. Second, there are a few subtle/obvious changes to canon that you might have missed; one, Kakashi didn't pass out from chakra exhaustion (this is another trickle down result of him remaining in ANBU longer) and two, Kakashi didn't get captured by Zabuza (Haruo protecting himself, Sakura, &amp; Tazuna had removed one distraction which allowed him to focus on the fight). And third, there was no cooperation between Sasuke &amp; Naruto to free Kakashi because Kakashi had not been captured. ~ Jenn_

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	20. Rising Tensions

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Rising Tensions

_April 25, 1990, 6:49 PM  
Tazuna's Home, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Grumpy and feeling more than a little out of sorts, Naruto silently climbed up the outside of Tazuna's house and dropped through the window of the guest room where Haruo was still sleeping off his exhaustion. The past thirty-some hours had been a trial for the blond and half of his problem was the fact that Haruo was not around to keep him company. The last time he'd spent so much time alone had been back before he'd met Haruo at the orphanage. And he hated it as much now as he did back then.

The rest of his problem was Sasuke's attitude (the jerk kept making snide comments about Haruo being a weak baby any time Kakashi wasn't within hearing) and the depressing and pessimistic remarks that Inari kept making. If it hadn't been for Sakura's peace keeping and budding diplomatic skills, Naruto was certain that he would've beaten someone black and blue. And at this point it didn't matter if it was Sasuke or his client's grandson. He'd actually had to walk out of the house in the middle of supper just now in order to prevent himself from yelling at the eight year old.

Throwing himself down beside his best friend, Naruto grumpily grumbled under his breath as he shifted around so he could use Haruo's stomach as a pillow out of habit.

"Stop wiggling, 'Ruto," Haruo groggily complained as he weakly bopped Naruto on the head.

"Sorry, Haruo," Naruto automatically replied before his brain registered the fact that the younger boy had just spoken to him. Once he registered the fact that Haruo was no longer unconscious, Naruto bolted upright and exclaimed, "Haruo! You're awake!"

"Go back to sleep. It's too early," Haruo muttered in response as one green eye briefly peered at Naruto.

"What are you talking about? It's nighttime and you've been out for almost two whole days!"

"Nani…?" Haruo asked in confusion as he opened both eyes this time and squinted at Naruto in confusion.

"You passed out from chakra exhaustion. We're on a mission, remember? To protect the bridge builder?"

Haruo gasped and quickly sat up, only to moan and grab his head a moment later and Naruto anxiously glanced between his friend and the door several times as he wondered if he should fetch Kakashi. He didn't know exactly what was wrong but he knew the younger boy well enough to know he had a headache. After a few minutes, Haruo dropped his hands and looked up at Naruto.

"Are you alright?"

"No, my head still hurts and I ache all over," Haruo tiredly replied before he looked away from Naruto to glance about the room. "And I have to pee."

"Come on, I'll carry you to the bathroom," Naruto offered as he pulled the covers the rest of the way off of Haruo.

"Where are we? What happened to the scary guy with the big sword?"

"We're at Tazuna's house and No-Brow ran away with the help of a masked teen after sensei kicked his ass all over the place."

"You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"Nah, my Kage Bunshin kicked ass and got rid of the Mizu Bunshin Zabuza kept throwing around. He pissed me off when one of his stupid clones tried to steal my hitai-ate. I think he only did it because I laughed at him when he chipped his stupid sword on your earth shield thing. And boy oh boy was he really mad about that. You should have heard him cursing up a storm after he ruined his sword; I learned a few new ones that will make Koneko-chan's face turn blue."

Haruo snickered as Naruto set him on his feet beside the toilet, "You'll share them with me later?"

"You bet!"

"Cool!"

Naruto left Haruo in the bathroom at that point as he returned to the guest room to grab Haruo a change of clothes since he'd been wearing the same track suit for the last week (there had been no point in changing their outer clothes while traveling when their clean clothes would only get just as filthy). By the time he'd returned to the bathroom, Haruo had finished emptying his bladder, stripped down to his underwear, and had cleaned himself up a bit using the sink. Naruto passed over the clean clothes he'd brought back with him and Haruo thanked him as he set about getting dressed.

A frown briefly passed over Naruto's features as he noticed how gingerly Haruo was moving and the way his arms and legs seemed to shake from time to time. The only reason why he didn't make a big deal out of it was because Haruo disliked being fussed over for the most part and it wasn't like his friend had been injured this time. Still, Naruto didn't like to see his friend in pain.

Once Haruo had finished redressing, Naruto helped him back onto his back so he could carry the younger boy back to the guest room. He'd barely stepped out of the bathroom when the two boys found themselves faced with an exasperated Kakashi looming in the middle of the hallway.

"Naruto, I thought I made it clear to you that Haruo was to stay in bed once he woke up," Kakashi drawled after the three of them had stood frozen in the middle of the hallway staring at one another for several minutes.

"I had to pee," Haruo tiredly explained.

"I suppose I can let it slide this time then; since you didn't actually try to walk to the bathroom on your own."

Both boys rolled their eyes in response to Kakashi's mother henning; the man obviously seeking to make up for Kuma's current absence. Naruto was promptly thwacked on the back of the head with a light hand slap in response (Haruo only escaped the same treatment because he wasn't fully recovered from his chakra exhaustion yet) and the two of them snickered unrepentantly. As soon as Naruto settled Haruo back onto his borrowed futon, Kakashi crouched down beside the younger boy and studied him intently for several seconds.

"Are you in any pain, Haruo-kun?"

"I ache all over."

"I'm not surprised; your chakra reserves were dangerously low in the wake of your little stunt. I was actually a bit shocked that you managed to create such a large shield when I know you were still having trouble manipulating half that much dirt during our training sessions."

"_I was desperate enough that I pulled on my magic to make it. And I used my Wood Release to fill the dome with roots so that the dirt didn't crumble before I could compress it,_" Haruo quietly admitted in English.

"So, you basically exhausted yourself twice over just to protect our client?"

"Aa, it was the only thing I could think of to do."

"It was a good idea; if a little reckless simply because you don't have the reserves to pull off A Rank Jutsu at the drop of a kunai like that. I know for a fact that a certain mutual friend already gave you a serious talk about the dangers of chakra exhaustion so I'm not going to bother lecturing you about your recklessness. I will also leave it to you to explain your actions to said friend."

"Sensei-nii is going to ground me until I'm as old and gray as you," Haruo blurted out in horror.

"Yeah, but he'll burn Kakashi-sensei's Icha-Icha Collection for taking this mission in the first place," Naruto added in an effort to cheer his friend up.

"I'm not old," Kakashi retorted as he flicked Haruo on the nose before he poked Naruto in the side. "And you don't need to be making any plans to feed anyone's ire or to come up with destructive ideas in their place, smarty-pants."

Naruto glanced at Haruo and the moment their eyes met, the two of them burst into giggles. Kakashi let out a huff of exasperation but Naruto could tell the man was smiling beneath his mask due to the way the fabric had shifted and stretched across his cheeks.

"What happens now?" Haruo asked once he'd stopped laughing.

"You're going to stay in bed for the rest of tonight and all of tomorrow to give your body time to recover," Kakashi sternly informed Haruo and the younger boy grimaced in distaste before he pouted at their sensei. "Don't give me that look; you need the rest and you know it. Once I think you're ready for it, you'll join the watch rotation I've set up to guard our client. In between your assigned guard duties, you'll be doing light training and working on a project that will reduce the chances of you exhausting yourself the next time you need a large shield."

"What kind of a project?" Naruto asked curiously as he glanced at Kakashi.

"A specialized sealing project."

"Did Inu-chan give you permission to teach us more seals?" Haruo slyly asked and Naruto nearly burst out laughing at the put upon look that Kakashi had on his face.

"_Alright, how long have the two of you known that I was Dog?_" Kakashi asked in English a moment later.

"_Since the day you were assigned as our Jounin Instructor_," Haruo replied in kind; a small smirk curling the corner of his mouth.

"_What gave me away?_"

"_Your chakra signature,_" Haruo answered at the same time as Naruto stated, "_Your scent._"

"I should have known," Kakashi grumbled as he switched back to Japanese.

"How'd you finally figure out that we knew?" Naruto asked curiously because he couldn't think of anything they'd done to give the game away.

"Haruo addressed me in English earlier when he told me how he managed to create the dome shield he used to protect Tazuna while the two of you previously acted like you didn't think I could understand you each time you slipped into the other language when annoying your teammates. And his question just now about having Inu's permission to teach the two of you a new seal solidified my suspicions."

"Sorry, Naruto; I didn't mean to ruin the prank," Haruo replied with a soft sigh.

"It's fine, dattebayo. We still managed to prank him for five months."

"You're both incorrigible brats," Kakashi growled without any heat as he lightly bopped Naruto on the head once again. The two friends grinned at him in response and Kakashi rolled his visible eye before he asked, "Haruo, do you think you could manage to eat a light supper or are you in too much pain right now?"

"You're not going to make me take any medicine, are you?"

"Not tonight; I know pain killers make you ill and I'd rather not have you feeling nauseous on top of the discomfort that you're currently in. Are you worried about taking a pain killer because your stomach is already upset? Or are you worried because you're half starved and didn't want to upset your stomach?"

"Both… sort of?" Haruo half asked in response.

"In that case, we can ask Tsunami to fix you something light instead of the heavy meal we had for supper," Kakashi replied before he turned to Naruto. "Naruto, why don't you go ask Tsunami-san if she would be willing to make some miso soup while I keep Haruo company?"

Naruto grumbled a bit about being kicked out of the room already but didn't complain too loudly since he was being asked to do something for Haruo. Once he reached the kitchen, he almost wished he had complained instead of comply when he noticed that almost everyone was still in the room; the only people missing were Kakashi, Haruo, and Inari. Ignoring the discomfort he felt as everyone turned to stare at him the moment he walked into the kitchen, Naruto approached Tsunami.

"Neechan, Kakashi-sensei wanted me to ask you if you'd be willing to make a bit of miso soup," Naruto awkwardly stated as he tried not to squirm in response to all the staring.

"Your sensei wants soup…? Was there something wrong with supper?"

"Ano, no; the soup's not for sensei. Haruo woke up just now and he's sorta hungry but he's not feeling well enough for anything real heavy."

"Oh, Haruo is the other little boy that's been sleeping, ne?" Tsunami asked with some surprise as she climbed to her feet and headed for the stove. "And of course I will make him some soup. You said he's not feeling well? Is he sick?"

"He's all achy from the chakra exhaustion and he doesn't really eat much when he's in any pain."

"That's because he probably cries himself sick like the little crybaby he is," Sasuke sneered as he pushed away from the table and stalked towards the exit.

"Urusai, teme; you're just jealous because he's better than you in just about everything!" Naruto snapped back as he shot a glare at the other boy's departing back.

"No, he's not; he's just a stupid little baby that everyone spoils to keep him from throwing his little tantrums," Sasuke sniped in return as he stopped on the threshold. "Unlike the two of you, I had to work for everything."

"That's a lie. Haruo and I had nothing handed to us and we worked our asses off to get to where we are now; unlike you, we didn't have the entire village bending over backwards just to kiss our ass. You say you worked hard? I call bullshit. The only thing you ever worked hard at was being an asshole so you could push everyone away. And if you were really so good, then why aren't you better than Haruo? He's younger than us and better than you; that means he's the real rookie of the year on this team and you're nothing but a sloppy second."

"That's enough! If you two don't stop fighting, I'm going to tell Kakashi-sensei," Sakura interjected as she stepped in between the two boys.

"You're right, Sakura," Naruto stated as he turned away from Sasuke. "Kicking his ass is not worth getting into trouble with Kakashi-sensei. And he'd just whine and claim I cheated when I bruised his pretty face, anyway."

Sasuke went red with rage before he stormed out of the house in a snit due to Naruto's parting remark. It was probably petty of Naruto to enjoy the sight of the other boy storming away but the blond was utterly sick and tired of Sasuke harping on Haruo just because the Uchiha couldn't handle the idea of someone being better than him. His behavior might get him in trouble with Kakashi since their sensei had probably heard the entire argument but the punishment would be more than worth it as long as Sasuke left Haruo alone.

"I know you don't like Sasuke and I know he's half the problem but you probably shouldn't go out of your way to rile him up like that, Naruto," Sakura quietly pointed out as she lightly touched Naruto's elbow. "He's not going to forget the things you said and I don't think he'd hesitate to do something underhanded to get back at you."

"I know that, Sakura; but I'm just so sick of him insulting Haruo. I don't care what he says about me but he needs to leave Haruo alone. He better leave you alone too. He'll probably start on you next since you've stood up to him several times since we left the village. So, you should probably be careful around the teme from now on."

"Arigatou, Naruto-kun."

"Huh? Why are you thanking me?" Naruto asked in confusion as he turned to frown at the kunoichi.

"For being nice to me after I was mean to you and Haruo for so long. I'm really sorry I wasn't a better teammate sooner. I'm also sorry that I never bothered to see you when we were still in the Academy. I really appreciate that both you and Haruo are willing to give me a second chance."

"Oh. You're welcome, I guess. And apology accepted and all that," Naruto replied rather awkwardly as he reached up to sheepishly rub the back of his head. "Though, I don't think you need to apologize about the teammate thing. I mean, you've at least been trying the last few weeks; unlike a certain jerk."

The two of them shared a brief smile before Sakura excused herself to lend Tsunami a hand by clearing the dirty dishes off the table and putting away the leftovers now that everyone had finished eating. Naruto watched her for a moment before he moved to join her; the blue-eyed pre-teen filling one side of the sink with hot, soapy water so he could wash the dishes. A side benefit to doing the familiar chore was that having something to occupy his hands made it much easier for him to patiently wait for Haruo's soup to be made and it got his mind off of Sasuke's insults.

Naruto had just finished rinsing off the last dish and was in the process of tucking it into the strainer with the rest of the dishes he'd washed when Tsunami announced that the soup was ready. Quickly drying his hands off, Naruto thanked the woman a second time, collected the tray holding Haruo's supper, and headed back upstairs. When he reached the room where Haruo had been sleeping off his exhaustion, Naruto used his foot to open the sliding door so he wouldn't spill the soup by trying to juggle the tray one-handed.

"Where'd Kakashi-sensei go?" Naruto asked the moment he saw that Haruo was alone in the room.

"He said something about doing damage control before left through the window a little while ago," Haruo replied as he pushed himself and set the pillow on his lap for a makeshift table.

"Oh, he probably went chasing off after Sasuke-teme after the jerk stormed out of the house."

Haruo let out an absent hum of agreement as he picked up the bowl of miso soup from the tray and lifted it so he could take a sip. Naruto watched Haruo eat for several seconds before he began filling the younger boy in on everything he'd missed out on while he'd been unconscious. Or rather, Naruto complained about everything that was annoying him over the past two days while Haruo dutifully listened to him and threw out the occasional comment between bites. By the time Naruto had run out of things to complain about and Haruo had finished his soup, Naruto was feeling far calmer.

"What kind of training is Kakashi-sensei having you do?" Haruo asked once Naruto had fallen silent.

"Water walking."

"That's so cool! Is it anything like Tree Climbing?"

"Sorta but it's harder because the water is always shifting under your feet. I kept falling in the water the first day. Once I stopped falling in, he started making me run and spar and stuff on top of the water so I'm still getting soaked all the time because I keep losing my concentration and falling in."

"I still wish I could learn it too but sensei-nii won't let me try water walking until I stop making the glass disks fly when he distracts me while I'm doing the Disk Concentration exercise. And he'd hurt Kakashi-sensei if Kakashi-sensei even thought about teaching me chakra control exercises out of order."

"Did Kakashi-sensei explain more about what kind of seal he's going to teach you?"

"Aa, he's going to teach me how to make seal chains."

"Don't we already know how to do that?"

"No, you're thinking seal triggers. Seal chains are different. Seal chains are a series of seals that are linked together so that they all open either at the same time or one right after another when you activate them. They're mostly used to trap buildings or large areas or to store charged elements or weapons."

"Oh, wow… seal chains are going to be so _awesome_, dattebayo! Can you imagine just how thoroughly we could prank Sasuke-teme if we chained exploding paint seals?"

"I'm not allowed to use them for pranks," Haruo petulantly informed Naruto. "As part of my punishment for fighting on a mission, I had to promise not to prank anyone using seal chains."

"That's so not fair! The teme was the one that started it!" Naruto exclaimed as he saw the glory of pelting Sasuke from all sides with a truly magnificent explosion of paint going up in smoke. He pouted for a full two minutes before a calculating look crossed his face as he asked, "Did he also make you promise not to teach me?"

"No, but he said I couldn't teach it to you unless you also promised not to use it for pranks."

"Chikushou."

"I know."

Naruto grumbled a bit more before he had a sudden idea, "What about teaching other people? Could you teach it to Sakura without her having to promise not to use the new seal in a prank?"

Haruo tipped his head to one side in contemplation before replied, "Yeah, I guess I could teach Sakura because he only said that I couldn't teach it to you unless you promised not to use it for pranks. I really don't think Sakura would help us prank anyone though; even if she has been much nicer since we left Konoha."

"No, you're probably right about that; I don't think Sakura likes pranks all that much. But she might be willing to teach me how to make seal chains if you offered to teach her first because she likes learning new stuff. And then once I learn it from her, we could use them for pranks because I wouldn't have to promise Sakura not to prank with them!"

Haruo blinked at him once before a smirk slowly formed on his face and Naruto knew that his friend was pleased with the loophole that Naruto had found in Kakashi's terms. All they had to do now was come up with a good reason to ask Sakura to teach Naruto how to make the seal chains after she'd learned how to make them.

"Does she know how to make storage seals?"

"I don't know, probably not; because she was really surprised that we knew how to make them."

"That means I'd have to teach her the basics first but if I do that, then she'll probably figure out that we were the ones that added the extra traps to the obstacle course and she's gonna kill us if she finds out we're responsible for the paint and sap tags."

"She'll probably figure that out anyway; since she knows we like to prank and that I like traps and that we know how to draw seals because I told her when she asked where we got all the storage scrolls from," Naruto pointed out with a slight wince; he did not want to get pounded on by an angry Sakura – her punches hurt. "Maybe we could con Shikamaru into learning the seals and teaching you how to do them instead?"

"Or we could just blame Kakashi-sensei and claim we didn't know what the tags we made were for," Haruo suggested with a small smirk. "And it's not like all of the traps were ours."

"That… might work, since she already blames him for making us run the obstacle course in the first place."

Haruo snickered softly before he let out a huge yawn. Naruto quickly confiscated the supper tray so it wouldn't be knocked over and then helped Haruo get comfortable once more. The brunette dropped off to sleep shortly after he lay back down and Naruto silently took the dirty dishes back down to the kitchen where Tsunami promptly took them off of his hands before he could wash them. He would rejoin Haruo in the guestroom just a few minutes later so he would be close at hand in case the younger boy woke up in the middle of the night.

* * *

_April 26, 1990, 8:26 PM  
Forest Clearing near Tazuna's Home, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

The pale light of a half moon shone down on a fuming twelve year old Uchiha Sasuke as he stalked through the trees towards the small clearing that he and Sakura had been using for their training sessions since arriving at Tazuna's house. From the moment he had been placed on a team with the dead last, the crybaby, and the useless fan-girl under Hatake Kakashi, everything had gone wrong. That had been the day that he'd learned that the dead last and his annoying little crybaby shadow had secretly received training he had not.

It had been beyond galling to know that someone had thought two clanless nobodies deserved special lesson that should have been given to him so that he could have been that much closer to avenging his clan.

Kakashi had not been happy about it either but he didn't blame the ones that had trained the dead last and the crybaby; he had blamed the Academy for some reason. Sasuke hadn't really cared enough to learn what had upset the Jounin. He was far too busy seething over the fact that his supposed teacher had refused to teach him techniques that would make him stronger; the man had instead focused on teaching him little baby tricks that would be of no use against Itachi.

And no matter how hard or how long he trained, he never seemed to be able to catch up to the dead last or the crybaby (the self-absorbed pre-teen not bothering to acknowledge the fact that the two boys he was comparing himself to had also grown stronger over the months). Even the useless fan-girl had shown more improvement than Sasuke had over the past four months; the short-sighted pre-teen unable to see his own growth due to the fact that he was always more focused on what his teammates were doing.

He suspected that someone, most likely Kakashi, was teaching the stupid girl behind his back.

Just like someone had taught the dead last and the crybaby behind his back all during their time at the Academy.

Growling, Sasuke stopped walking and lashed out with a fist at the nearest tree as his anger spiked higher. He was so sick and tired of being held back. He needed to get stronger. He needed a proper sensei that would help him get stronger. He needed more power so he could avenge his clan by killing his traitorous brother. Pain exploded in Sasuke's hand upon impact with the tree but he clenched his jaw tightly and ignored it.

His thoughts then returned to the latest 'teamwork' lecture that Kakashi had given him after he'd gotten into yet another argument with the dead last earlier that afternoon. Sasuke hadn't really paid attention though; it was pretty much the same stupid lecture the man had been giving him almost every night since they had run into those first two missing nins on the journey to Nami. It still angered him that Kakashi had had the gall to blame him for the dead last and crybaby being losers.

The man had dared to accuse him of being argumentative and disruptive when it had been the stupid dobe that had been causing all of the problems since the start of the mission.

His anger flared a second time and Sasuke unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks on the same tree he'd punched a few seconds earlier and in less than five minutes, his knuckles were a bloody mess because he'd been far to angry to coat his hands in chakra to protect them from the bark. Instead of stopping though, Sasuke snarled and used his pain, anger, and hate to fuel his blows as he continued to pound on the innocent tree. He managed to keep up his assault for another four minutes before the pain in his bloody and torn knuckles became too much to bear.

Dropping his hands, Sasuke sucked in great gulps of air as he stared blankly at the bloody bark of the tree in front of him while his knuckles throbbed in time with his heartbeat and the blood from his cuts dripped onto the ground at his feet. Once his breathing returned to normal and the pain in his hands had died down to a dull ache, Sasuke calmly pulled a small medical kit out of his utility pouch and set about treating his hands so they wouldn't scar. It was a task that he was intimately familiar with due to the number of times he'd injured himself while training and he finished it in less than two minutes. He then tucked his medical kit away and continued on his way to the clearing as if nothing had happened.

As soon as Sasuke reached the 'training clearing', he pulled out a kunai and eyed the tree he'd slashed up during his attempts at accomplishing the tree climbing exercise over the past few days. The memory of seeing the crybaby brazenly walking up the side of a tree without any effort during their first training session flashed through his mind as he noted his slash marks ended well below the fifteen foot mark. Another memory of the little brat sticking to the protective wall of the Hokage's Compound by his stomach sent another flash of envy and anger through Sasuke a second later.

Frustrated that the little crybaby seemingly outclassed him at every turn, Sasuke snarled angrily as he ran at the tree with his kunai poised to strike. His feet hit the tree hard and he raced up the trunk several feet before gravity began pulling his body backwards and he crouched down to slash at the tree before he flipped backward to land on his feet at the base of the trunk. He pressed his lips together with barely suppressed frustration when he glanced up to find that his newest mark was barely a half inch higher than the previous mark.

Grinding his teeth together in frustration, Sasuke took several steps backwards before he ran at the tree again. This time, he pushed even more chakra into his feet in his attempt to defy gravity but only ended up blasting himself backwards before he'd taken more than two steps. Twisting in mind air, Sasuke landed on his feet and skidded backwards for several inches before he reversed his momentum and ran at the tree yet again. He managed to make it up to roughly the same height as his first attempt and slashed the tree with his kunai yet again; the new mark practically overlapping the previous slash.

Over the course of the next four hours, Sasuke repeatedly threw himself at the tree in an attempt to climb it. The slashes made by his kunai would slowly rise another eight inches during that time. The pathetically slow progress only made Sasuke's frustration grow exponentially and the more frustrated he grew, the less height he gained in each attempt as his less than perfect concentration only made his chakra control flounder. At the end of those four hours, Sasuke dropped wearily onto his back in the center of the clearing; the pre-teen exhausted and sore from his failed attempts to climb the tree, the long day spent training and guarding the client, and his emotional outbursts.

Sasuke would eventually fall asleep where he fell; completely unconcerned with the idea of sleeping outside after a night of hard training – something he'd done countless times since his entire clan had been murdered by his older brother.

The young Genin would be rudely awoken by an unfamiliar girl shortly after sunrise the next morning. The moment she touched his shoulder, he bolted upright and brandished the kunai he'd fallen asleep holding in her face as he tried to assess her threat level while still half asleep. A closer look revealed that the girl was harmless and apparently a civilian, given the kimono she was wearing and the wide-eyed look of fear on her face and Sasuke slowly lowered the kunai.

"Sumimasen, shinobi-san; I did not mean to startle you," the girl simpered as she nervously shifted backwards. "I only wanted to wake you up because I was worried that you might be hurt or that you would get sick from sleeping on the wet ground."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he tucked his kunai away in his utility pouch before he climbed to his feet to stretch out his sleep cramped muscles.

The girl floundered for a moment at his wordless response before she tentatively asked, "What were you doing out here all night?"

"Training," Sasuke grudgingly answered in hopes that the girl would stop talking and leave him alone if she was given an answer.

"Training…? What kind of training?"

"The kind that makes me stronger," Sasuke practically growled as he clenched his fists and glared at the pathetic trail of slashes that marred the tree he'd been trying to climb.

"You don't believe that you're already strong?"

"I would've been far stronger by now if others hadn't held me back by giving the stupid crybaby, pathetic dead last, and useless fan-girl training that they should've been giving to me."

"Do you believe it's just training that makes one strong then?" the girl inquired as she absently began plucking at the weeds that grew in the clearing.

"Of course not," Sasuke retorted as he sent the girl an annoyed glare for pestering him.

"What is it that you believe makes a person strong then?"

This time, Sasuke simply ignored her as he tried to determine if he had enough time to get some training in before he was required to show up for breakfast. Based on the fact that there was a light mist rising from the ground and that the last of the stars had faded from the sky, he determined that it would probably be better just to head back to the bridge builder's house. The last thing he wanted was to hear Kakashi bitch at him for missing his morning 'pep' talk. It was bad enough that he'd probably have to listen to the man lecture him about spending the night away from the rest of the team.

"Do you have a precious person waiting for you back home? Is that why you wish to be strong?" the girl inquired after a couple minutes of silence had passed.

"No, I won't allow the useless bonds of others to tie me down and make me weak," Sasuke retorted as he turned his back on the girl and began heading out of the clearing.

"I don't think that forming bonds with others could make a person weak. I believe that a person's true strength can only be found when they have a precious someone to protect," the girl called out to Sasuke's back.

"That kind of belief is what sets silly little civilian girls like you apart from powerful shinobi," Sasuke countered as he stopped at the edge of the clearing so that he could sneer at the girl over his shoulder. "It's a person's ability to harness their hate and anger that makes them strong; the heat of hate and anger tempers our abilities and makes us stronger."

Sasuke stalked away before the girl could reply. He had no time to listen to silly little girls and their stupid beliefs.

* * *

_April 28, 1990, 2:43 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

A masked Tenzou silently observed his two clients as they signed in at the gate with the Chuunin on duty. He'd already sent Genma and Raidou on ahead so that they could give Kasai and Inoichi a heads up to let them know that they had returned with their clients in tow. The two Outsiders would need to be cleared by Inoichi before they were even allowed to meet with the Hokage in order to finalize their citizenship and Kasai would want to assess them for himself. After spending the past fourteen days with the duo, Tenzou was fairly certain they meant no harm to Konoha or his son but it didn't hurt to have a second (or third) opinion.

He also knew that Black needed to see a medic and a counselor; the man had not yet fully recovered (either mentally or physically) from the years he'd spent in prison. Tenzou would not even consider allowing the man within fifty feet of his son until he'd been given a clean bill of health. He refused to take any risks with his son's wellbeing. Well, he wouldn't take any needless risks since it wasn't like he could wrap Haruo up in wool and hide him away from the rest of the world now that he'd earned his hitai-ate.

Tenzou trusted Kakashi to keep the risks that Haruo could be expected to face during missions outside of the village to a minimum once they started taking higher ranked missions.

Pushing his concerns for his son to the back of his mind for the moment, Tenzou refocused his full attention on two men he'd brought to Konoha when he noticed the gate guard had finished processing their paperwork. The moment the two adult Trueborn Sages tucked away their identification papers, Tenzou signaled for them to follow him as he passed through the oversized gate that led into the village. The Tokubetsu Jounin took care to keep an eye on his clients as they wove through the streets towards Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Facility where Inoichi would be evaluating them.

Unlike most first time visitors to Konoha, neither man appeared to be overly in awe at the size of the village or of the blatant signs of technology. Not that Tenzou had expected such a reaction from them given the fact that the two men had lived their entire lives in the Outer Countries where the cities were so large that it was sometimes hard to tell where one ended and the next started. At the same time, the small nostalgic smiles they wore were rather unexpected; it was as if being in Konoha had stirred happier memories for the two men.

"_Doesn't this place just remind you of a larger, livelier Hogsmeade?_" Lupin inquired in English as he leaned closer to Black.

"_I was thinking more along the lines of Godric's Hallow; what with the obvious muggle technology,_" Black countered in kind as he gestured to the electric street lights that lined the roads.

"It would be best if you only speak Japanese now that we're in Konoha," Tenzou interjected before Lupin could form a response to Black's comment. "Your use of the languages used in the Outer Countries here will only draw needless attention to you."

"Sirius doesn't actually know how to speak, read, or write Japanese," Lupin stated in heavily accented Japanese. "The only reason he can understand us right now is because I cast a translation spell on him shortly after we left England's shores so that he could at least understand what was being said around him. The spell only translates what he hears; not what he sees or speaks."

"There are two options available to remedy that; one, we can arrange for someone to give Black-san lessons to teach him the language or two, we can have someone implant a template of the Japanese language directly into his brain."

"Ah, that's right; shinobi have special techniques that are similar to mind magic," Lupin softly exclaimed.

Tenzou hummed out an acknowledgement as he recalled the explanation that the two men had given him and his teammates about the various branches of magic during the journey home. He also couldn't help but recall the barrier that Inoichi had mentioned surrounded Haruo's mind after the first time he'd viewed Haruo's memories. That led him to wonder if all Trueborns had a similar barrier around their minds or if it was only those Trueborns who practiced mind magic that had barriers around their mind.

Of course, if it was only those individuals that practiced mind magics, then it raised the question of how Haruo had ended up with a barrier around his mind. Though, if he remembered correctly, Inoichi had implied that it had been Lily's spirit protecting Haruo's mind. But if it had been Lily's spirit, then why was Haruo's mind still protected? He distinctly recalled Inoichi stating that Lily's spirit had stated that her presence was no longer needed but also warned him not to allow anyone else to 'read' her son's mind.

That implied that the barrier was still present. Or, that Lily's spirit had potentially charged Inoichi to protect her son's mind from others attempting to rummage through his mind and memories.

Tenzou wasn't certain how to find out which was true but he suspected the two men trailing in his wake would be able to shed light on the matter. Actually, he knew the men would be able to answer most of the questions he had regarding his son's magic. They had already provided him with some information but they hadn't answered all of the questions that had cropped up since the day he'd collected his son from the Outer Countries. Now wasn't the time to start asking those questions though; the three of them had just reached their destination and the two Trueborns had an appointment to keep.

The Mokuton user opened the door leading into the facility and held it open for the two men as he scanned the immediate area for anything out of place; a long standing habit that was essential in his line of work. He would follow the two men into the building a heartbeat later and was unsurprised to find Inoichi waiting for them in the lobby. Kasai didn't appear to be in attendance but Tenzou knew his boss was in the building because he could sense the man's presence.

"Inoichi, allow me to introduce you to Lupin Remus and Black Sirius," Tenzou announced as he herded the two men towards the blond. "Gentlemen, this is Yamanaka Inoichi. He's the one in charge of conducting your initial assessment."

"Gentlemen, if the two of you would follow me; I have a pair of interview rooms already prepared for us," Inoichi suggested as he took a step to the left and half turned away as he gestured towards the open doorway behind him. The two wizards nodded and began walking in the direction indicated as Inoichi glanced at Tenzou and stated, "Kuma, Kasai is waiting for you downstairs."

Tenzou inclined his head in response to the information before he sank through the floor to save time. As he emerged from the ceiling of the level directly beneath the lobby, Tenzou let gravity pull him down to the floor. He landed lightly in the middle of a hallway two seconds later and headed off in the direction he could sense Kasai's chakra waiting. The Tokubetsu Jounin found his boss in one of the many surveillance rooms scattered throughout the building; one wall filled entirely with television monitors that were linked to the security camera network that had been installed in the building.

A quick glance at the wall of monitors showed the building's lobby, several hallways (including the one Tenzou had just been walking through), and a pair of empty interrogation rooms that Tenzou figured Inoichi was leading Lupin and Black to. Moving between the monitors as they traveled through the building was Inoichi and the two Outsiders that Tenzou had brought back to the village.

"I see you made it back in one piece with your clients in tow," Kasai commented without taking his eyes off the monitors on the wall.

"The two Trueborns were quite willing to cooperate with us," Tenzou replied as he removed a trio of storage scrolls and lightly placed them on the desk Kasai was sitting at. "I'm also holding onto their belongings; including the wands that they use to focus their mahou techniques."

"Yes, Yagi already filled me in on their little magic sticks. Were you also able to confirm whether or not this R. J. Lupin was the same R. J. Lupin that hired you for the mission that uncovered your son?"

"Yes, he readily confirmed that he had been the one to hire me for that mission. He also came right out and admitted that the biggest reason why he'd requested that mission had been to bring my son to my attention in the hopes that I would remove him from his relatives' house. According to Lupin-san, there had been a magical barrier of sorts around the Dursley home that prevented him from removing Haruo himself."

"And the reason why he didn't apply for citizenship at the same time?"

"He had refused to leave England without Black-san who, at the time of the first mission, had been in prison; Black had been framed for murder and thrown in prison without a trial around the same time that my son was orphaned. Lupin-san stated that it took him six years to break Black out of prison by faking Black's death to lessen the chances that anyone will mount a search for Black. And he didn't start working on that until after I had collected Haruo from his relatives' house since he'd been focused on tracking me down first."

"Yagi and Karasu hinted that the two men also gave the three of you a considerable amount of background information."

"They did; most of it on their personal histories, their relationship with Haruo's mother and step-father, and the small scale war that their hidden society was involved in right up until the deaths of Haruo's mother and step-father. According to their tale, the war ended when the leader of the opposition attempted to kill Haruo after he'd killed his mother and step-father and was instead killed in the backlash of a failed technique. Their hidden society actually believes that Haruo was the one to stop the man and end the war; making him something of a celebrity in their society."

Kasai snapped his face around to glare at Tenzou through his mask as he growled out, "How much of a headache is your son's fame in the Outer Countries going to make for me? How large of a force have they dedicated to searching for him over the past six years?"

"According to Lupin-san, they aren't even aware that he'd been removed from his aunt's house six years ago. He insisted that no one would even start thinking to check on him until around his eleventh birthday; the age at which Trueborns start their formal education on how to access and use their mahou. Additionally, Lupin-san had taken care to erase any references to the Hidden Countries he had encountered while seeking information on how to find us in the first place to prevent another Trueborn from tracking Haruo through non-magical means. He also said that there are techniques that he can cast on Haruo to prevent him from being found through magical means."

"Even if those methods aren't one hundred percent effective, we'll still have two years in which to further muddy the trails and make preparations for the slim chance that someone does discover that Haruo is here. Warnings can also be left with our contacts Outside to have them be on the lookout for suspicious characters hunting for information. Lupin-san offered to provide us with the names and descriptions of those individuals that would be on the list of those interested in getting their hands on Haruo in order to use him or his fame for personal gain."

"And what of the boy's relatives?"

"They believe that their nephew died of a strange wasting illness due to the fact that the Moku Bunshin I had left to take Haruo's place gradually ran out of chakra over the course of several weeks. They had the 'dead' clone quietly buried roughly four, four and a half months after I'd removed Haruo from their house. The clone will have decomposed within a year of being buried and will have left nothing but dust in its place."

"Well, that's something at least," Kasai muttered in a mollified tone as he returned his attention to the monitors as Inoichi showed the two men into separate interrogation rooms. "What are you impressions of those two?"

Tenzou took a moment to order his thoughts before he replied, "Lupin is a very cautious man with a calm temperament. He's very intelligent with a decent mind for strategy but he's a follower, not a leader. There's also a certain weariness about him; as if he suffers from an untreatable illnesses or potentially chronic insomnia. It's readily apparent that stress or his health has aged him prematurely as well. Despite that, the man is a fighter as evidenced by the visible scars he wears, the way he moves, and the way he holds himself."

"Black, like Lupin, is a follower not a leader. He too is rather intelligent but his mind and body were ravaged by the time he spent in prison; his muscles weak and atrophied while his mental and emotional states are rather unbalanced. From what I understand, the prison in which he'd been secured used some kind of magical creature that mentally and emotionally tortured the prisoners on a daily basis. He's also no where near as calm as Lupin and I suspect that he's the type of guy to rush into a fight headfirst without a plan. So, the best word I would use to describe him is reckless."

"While I don't believe either man is a threat to Konoha or my son, I'm concerned how much damage Black-san could unintentionally to do Haruo with a careless word. Worse yet, in my mind, is the fact that the man was named as Haruo's godfather by his step-father; a relationship which could potentially cause problems down the line depending on how attached Haruo becomes to the man. I'm certain that Haruo would never turn against Konoha regardless of what pull the man has over my son in the future though. Haruo's friendship with Naruto is far too strong and Naruto loves Konoha."

Kasai hummed in response to that before he focused his attention on the monitor as Inoichi began interviewing Black first due to the fact that it was readily apparent that the man needed medical attention.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Arigatou – thank you  
Chikushou – damn/damn it  
Nani – what  
Oneechan/neechan – older sister (can also be used to address an older woman/girl)

**Notes:**

Sasuke – While some readers might see my portrayal of Sasuke as character bashing; that's not what I'm trying to do here. I see him as a rather self-centered individual due to the attention he received as the last Uchiha. On top of that, the events in the story are simply pushing him into a slightly different, darker direction than canon. I also believe that the way his character was portrayed in canon makes it easy for him to 'fall from the light' far easier because he was so obsessed with power and revenge.

His ambition to kill Itachi drives him to ignore everything in his bid for power and this time there's no Naruto to pull him back from the abyss because Naruto doesn't crave Sasuke's acknowledgement like canon Naruto does. Sasuke also doesn't like to be second best (think of how he reacted to Rock Lee easily overpowering him during the Chuunin Exam Arc) in anything and both Haruo/Harry and Naruto appear to be leagues ahead of him (even if he's mentally amplifying their strength without realizing it).

* * *

**Character STATs:**

**Name:** Tenzou (Kuma, Haruo)  
**Age:** 27  
**Kekkei Genkai:** Mokuton  
**Description:** Mokuton; user is able to blend their water and earth natured chakra to form the element wood.  
**Note:** Tenzou's Mokuton is implanted via experimentation by Orochimaru

**STATs – (As of the Mizuki Incident) **

**Stamina:** 3.5  
**Speed:** 4.0  
**Force:** 3.5  
**Taijutsu:** 4.0  
**Ninjutsu:** 4.5  
**Genjutsu:** 3.5  
**Fuuinjutsu:** 1.0  
**Kenjutsu:** 4.0  
**Iryojutsu:** 0.5  
**Shurikenjutsu:** 4.0  
**Intelligence:** 4.5  
**Hand Seals: **3.5

**Total Ability:** 36.5 (out of 60)/ 40.5 including LP  
**Latent Potential (LP):** 4.0  
**Luck:** 2.5

**Chakra Rating:** Mid to High Jounin level reserves, High Jounin level control  
**Primary Chakra Nature:** Earth, Water  
**Secondary Chakra Nature:** Fire

**Skill Levels – **

**Physical Condition:** High Jounin  
**Weapons Handling:** High Jounin  
**Battlefield Strategy:** High Jounin

**Overall Ranking:** High Jounin

**Comments:** Tenzou's Ninjutsu STAT is lower than Haruo/Harry's Ninjutsu STAT due to the fact that Haruo/Harry was born with the Mokuton whereas Tenzou was not. Haruo/Harry's magic is also being factored into his STATs.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	21. Interview with a Marauder (Take One)

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Twenty-One: Interview with a Marauder (Take One)

_April 28, 1990, 3:12 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Inoichi settled into a seat across from the gaunt man that Kuma had introduced as Black Sirius. He knew, from the briefing that Karasu had given him when he'd shown up to report their return from the Outer Countries, that the man had spent close to nine years in prison. He also knew the man was a Trueborn Sage like Haruo (only fully trained) and that he had the ability to transform himself into a large dog; something he recalled the toads mentioning as possible back when they'd first identified Haruo as a young Trueborn.

That was something that he wanted to see with his own eyes because he was curious to know whether the technique was merely some type of advanced henge or if the man truly turned into an actual dog. Now wasn't the time for his curiosity to get the better of him though; he had two potential citizens to interview. Pushing his interest in the man's abilities to the back of his mind, Inoichi focused on the wizard as he sat down in the seat across from the man.

"Black-san, I'm going to start this interview by asking you a few questions to confirm that the information we were given on your application is accurate," Inoichi informed the man as he pulled out a blank scroll and a pencil so that he could take notes. "For the record, could you please state your full name, age, and date of birth?"

"_Er, is it going to be a problem if I give you my answers in English?_"

"_No, it won't be an issue; I'm fluent in English._"

"_Wonderful,_" Black replied as a relieved smile flitted across his face.

"_Is there any particular reason why you do not wish to answer in Japanese?_"

"_I know how to speak eight different languages but Japanese is not one of them. Moony had cast a translation spell on me after we left England so I can at least understand it though._"

"_Ah, thank you for satisfying my curiosity,_" Inoichi murmured as he noted the number of languages that the man claimed to speak. "_If you could go ahead and give me your name, age, and birthdate now…?_"

"_My full name is Sirius Alphard Black, I'm thirty (almost thirty-one) years old, and I was born on November twenty-eighth of nineteen-fifty-nine._"

"_Can you provide me with the city and/or country in which you were born?_"

"_London, England; I was delivered by a midwife in my parent's private home though, so you won't be able to find any muggle records of my birth._"

"_That won't be an issue,_" Inoichi assured the man before he jumped right to his next question. "_Out of all the villages that you could have chosen to move to; what made you chose to move to Konoha?_"

"_I didn't actually pick the city, Moony did,_" Black replied with an uncomfortable shrug of his shoulders. "_I didn't learn where we would be ending up until a few hours after Moony collected me from Azkaban._"

"_What is Azkaban?_"

"_Azkaban is Great Britain's wizarding prison but it is better known to the prisoners as hell on earth._"

"_Why were you in prison?_"

"_The damn traitor framed me for the murder of twelve muggles while he faked his death and I was hauled off to prison without a trial because the Black Family was a stain upon my soul and the one man I trusted to do right by me because I fought in his name failed me._"

"_I'm afraid you lost me,_" Inoichi slowly stated as he tried to pick apart the facts from the man's angry rant. "_Could you start by telling me who this 'traitor' is?_"

"_Peter Pettigrew. He was our friend. We trusted him. I trusted him. He was the weakest of us all though and he folded without even a token fight. It was my grand idea, you see. I was closest to James. He was more than just a friend, James was my brother in all but blood; though we shared a bit of that too as his mother was a Black. When James and Lily went into hiding after little Harry was born, they asked me to be their Secret Keeper. My plan was for us to tell everyone that I was their Secret Keeper while the real Secret Keeper would be Peter. It was supposed to be the perfect prank._"

"_It would have worked too. If Peter hadn't betrayed them less than a week after Lily had cast the Fidelius Charm that would hide them from Voldemort and his little lap dogs. The minute I learned Peter had betrayed them, I tried to warn James but I was too late; Voldemort had already killed him and Lily. I tried to take Harry that night but Dumbledore had ordered Hagrid to take him to Hogwarts and I was left at loose ends. So, I went hunting for Peter. That was my second mistake. My first mistake had been to trust the rat in the first place. _"

"_I found him two days later and that's when everything blew up in my face. Literally. Peter screamed out accusations in an attempt to place the guilt on me and then he blew up the street with a spell. The little rat should not have had that much magic to throw around but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he'd been given a huge power boost through dark magic after he joined Voldemort. I shielded myself from the explosion but the muggles around us hadn't been as lucky and there were countless people injured and another twelve dead._"

"_Peter took advantage of the confusion to cut off his finger and transform into a rat before he disappeared into the sewers with the rest of the vermin. I completely lost it at that point. I remember telling everyone who would listen that it was my fault. And I remember laughing through my tears as James's death hit me hard. I was stunned from behind not long after Peter ran and the next time I woke up, I was locked up in a cell in Azkaban. I thought it was no less than I deserved for what I had allowed to happen. I was there until Moony broke in and snuck me out earlier this month._"

Inoichi had not made any attempts to stop the man as he poured out his tragic tale. He'd also taken care to adopt a sympathetic expression in order to encourage the man to continue talking; since the more the man said, the better able Inoichi would be able to gauge both his intentions and his mental stability. Black's grief and rage were palpable and the blond could already tell that the man was going to need some serious counseling. Once the Trueborn had fallen silent, Inoichi took a moment to order his thoughts before he continued questioning the man.

"_What kind of technique is this… Fidelius Charm that you mentioned?_"

"_It's a spell that, once cast, hides a secret in the soul of a person and the only way to learn the secret once the spell has been cast is to hear it straight from the mouth of the Secret Keeper or read it on a note written by them. Lily had cast that spell to hide the house where she and James were hiding with little Harry. If Peter had not betrayed them, then James and Lily could have danced naked in front of an open window as Voldemort walked by and Voldemort would have never even known they were even there._"

"_Is that a common technique that Trueborns use to hide their secrets?_"

"_No, it's a really old and obscure spell and very few people have the power or control to cast the spell and there are few people out there that are willing to trust others with their secrets since the person casting the spell can't be the Secret Keeper. I only knew three… maybe four people back home that could have cast the spell. Lily, of course, was one. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, was another. Filius Flitwick, our old Charms professor could too as he was the one that taught Lily how to cast the spell. My grandfather could have cast it when he was in his prime but I doubt he could now._"

"_I noticed that you did not list yourself or your companion amongst those capable of casting the spell,_" Inoichi stated in a blatant attempt to get an idea of just how powerful the man was when it came to his 'magic'.

"_That's because we're not capable of casting it. I never had enough control and thanks to the dementors of Azkaban, I no longer have the power. Moony, on the other hand, had the control but lacked the power._"

"_What exactly is a dementor?_"

"_They are monstrous creatures that feed on your darkest emotions. They are also capable of sucking your soul out of your body and devouring it. Just being in the same room with one of them will make you feel as if you will never be happy again. Being in the presence of three or more is pure torture as they strip you of your memories and magic._"

"_And these creatures were kept in the prison to protect the population?_"

"_Hell no! The dementors are the damn bloody guards of the prison. They wandered freely through that hell-hole and feasted upon the souls and emotions of those who had the misfortune to be sentenced to Azkaban._"

Inoichi took a moment to let the knowledge that the Trueborn society _tortured_ their prisoners when everything he'd learned about Trueborns from the various summoning clans allied with the village said that Trueborns embodied nature and therefore respected all life. He was beginning to think that the histories and legends that the summoning clans knew were not entirely accurate. Or at least, they were far less accurate than he'd originally been led to believe. He supposed that they could have changed slowly over time or maybe the summoning clans hadn't met any nasty ones.

He didn't know why he was all that surprised though, since intentional cruelty was just as much a part of human nature as compassion and Trueborns were human too. And it's not as if Trueborns could all be the saints that the toads had painted them as.

If they had all been saints, then the Konoha Prankster's Association would not exist.

And yes, Inoichi blamed the KPA on Haruo.

He knew full well the entire thing had originally Haruo's idea and Naruto had eagerly taken that idea and run with it.

He _still_ hadn't been able to get all of the pink paint off of the ceiling in his office. He also hadn't sanded his desk to remove the cutesy little smiley face that Haruo had carved on the surface (using his Mokuton) because it amused him every time he saw it. Not that he ever let the two snots know that. He also told his wife that he hadn't removed it because it would be too much damn work to resurface the entire desk just to smooth out one corner of it. His wife had rolled her eyes at him and accused him of hanging around Shikaku too much.

Pushing his amusement at the two pranksters' antics out of his mind so he could focus on the broken man in front of him, Inoichi coughed once to clear his throat before he asked, "_Is there a way to defend yourself from the dementor creatures? Or a way to potentially prevent them from entering the village?_"

"_Yeah, you can usually hold them off with a patronus or, if your patronus is strong enough, chase them off. And there are wards that can be placed to keep them out of an area but it would take years to charge a ward large enough to cover this entire village._"

"_Could the ward just be placed over the gates?_"

"_No, the dementors can fly or float or whatever it is they do._"

_That's not good,_ Inoichi thought to himself as a frown pulled the corners of his lips down before he asked, "_Do you know if the dementors could pass through the barrier that separates the Outer Countries from the Hidden Countries?_"

"_I'm not sure but I doubt it. There really aren't that many dementors worldwide and most of them are controlled by the different magical governments in order to prevent them from breeding unchecked or feeding on large populations of muggles since muggles can't see dementors._"

"_You've used the word 'muggle' several times now; can you tell me what it means?_" Inoichi inquired as he tried not to think about invisible, soul-sucking demons descending on the village.

"_It's what we wizards call those born without magic._"

"_Ah, thank you for clarifying that for me. Now, going back to the dementors; you said that a person could drive them off with a… patronus, I think you said. What is a patronus?_"

"_The Patronus Charm is a spell that draws on the caster's positive emotions to create a tangible shield that repels the dementors because positive emotions are a bit of an anathema to them. Powerful witches and wizards can actually create what we call a corporeal patronus that is capable of driving the dementors off rather than just holding them off. The spell usually takes the shape of an animal that represents the castor's concept of security and/or happiness. My patronus used to take the form of a lion. Not sure if I could still cast a corporeal patronus, let alone a patronus shield now. Moony can though._"

Inoichi nodded in response to his answer before he brought the interview back to the original topic as he asked, "_Earlier, you mentioned that the man who betrayed you and your friends had faked his death when he framed you for the murder of a dozen individuals. You also said that he did so by turning into a rat and disappearing into the sewer. Did he actually turn into a real rat or did he just cast an illusion to make him look like a rat?_"

"_He turned into a real rat; he's an animagus – just like I am._"

"_You can turn into a rat as well?_"

"_No, I can transform into a dog._"

"_Would you be willing to demonstrate that ability for me?_" Inoichi requested with barely concealed excitement.

"_Sure,_" Black replied as he leaned forward in his chair as his body blurred and shifted until a large, black dog was standing on the floor in front of the man's chair. The dog barked happily and wagged its tail before it jumped up onto the chair and spun around in the seat; the dog's form appearing to melt as the transformation reversed itself until Black was once again human.

"_Fascinating. Is that a technique that all Trueborns are taught?_"

"_No, it's a very advanced branch of human transfiguration and very few magicals can do it since it requires wandless magic to master the transformation. I'm lucky I can still do it myself after how long I was in Azkaban but transforming into Padfoot was what saved me from going stark raving mad while I was there._"

"_Does Lupin-san also know how to transform?_"

"_No._"

"_Could you teach another how to transform?_"

"_Maybe… it depends on whether or not the person I'd be teaching has an animagus form; since not all wizards are born with an inner animal spirit. It would also depend on what kind of animal the person's inner animal spirit took the form of since there are some species of animals that pose a greater risk of death or permanent disfigurement. One example would be sea creatures; since most of them need water to survive and transforming into a fish out of water could see you suffocating to death before you have the presence of mind to transform back into a human._"

"_Yes, I can see how that would be dangerous. Tell me, how deep does the transformation go? Do you actually assume the physiology of a dog or do you just look like a dog on the outside?_"

"_It's a complete transformation. An animagus's magic will break down their human body and reform it into a physical representation of their inner animal spirit. If an animagus was to die while in their animagus form, then their body would remain in animal form. And neither magic nor muggle methods would be able to tell the difference between the dead animagus or a normal animal of the same species._"

"_And your former friend could turn himself it a rat?_"

"_Yes._"

"_How would you distinguish your former friend's animal form from a normal rat?_"

"_An animagus form incorporates one or more traits that is unique to the wizard. For example, my form has wild fur that is similar to my hair when it is cut short. It also has a long, white slash of fur on the belly that matches a scar I received when I was eight. Peter's identifying marks include the color of his fur (it's the exact same shade as his hair), his watery-blue eyes, and a faint pattern of stars over his fur that were an imprint of the shirt he was wearing the first time he transformed. After he cut off his finger when he faked his death, his front paw will also be missing a toe now._"

"_Do you know where he is now?_"

"_No, if I did, then I would have killed the bastard before we left England._"

"_Do you intend to return to England to chase him down a second time?_" Inoichi inquired as he made a note on the scroll in front of him that the man might be a flight risk.

"_No. As much as I would love to see the traitor pay for his crimes, I can never go back. I'm dead to that world now and I've wasted far too many years languishing in prison. I also promised Prongs that I'd watch over little Harry for him if anything happened to him and Lily and it's past time for me to make good on that promise._"

Inoichi asked the man a few more questions about his motives before he coaxed Black into giving him an overview of his childhood, the training a Trueborn receives once they are old enough to be trained, and detailed descriptions of those individuals that had once followed the dead dark lord. He was able to glean a considerable amount of information from the man without needing to use any underhanded tricks or threats. Once he believed he had a good enough grasp on Black's background (including why his family was considered a black mark on his name), Inoichi shifted the interview to Black's skills.

"_Earlier, you had mentioned that you could speak eight different languages. Aside from English; what other seven languages do you speak?_"

"_I am fluent in Gaelic, French, Spanish, Italian, and German and I have a decent grasp of Latin and Greek._"

"_Does your fluency in any of those languages include reading and writing the languages?_"

"_Yes, though it's been ages since I've written or read anything in a language other than English or Latin._"

"_May I inquire as to why you learned so many different languages?_"

"_Politics. As the former heir to the family's headship, I was expected to enter a political career upon reaching my majority at seventeen where speaking multiple languages would have allowed me to potentially spread the family's influence outside of Britain._"

"_Aside from your fluency in multiple languages and your ability to transform yourself into a dog, what other skills do you have?_"

"_Ah, well, I used to be a top notch dueler but I'm more than a little rusty and the higher level spells I used to know are out of my reach due to how much damage the dementors did to my core. I was taught how to fence when I was growing up bit I'm more than a little rusty at that too since I've not fenced since I was disowned the summer after my fifth year at Hogwarts. I was training to be a curse breaker because I knew it would give my mother a heart attack if I went to work for the goblins but I never completed my training. I suppose that's pretty much it… unless you count pranking as a skill._"

Inoichi froze for a split second and barely suppressed the shiver of fear that raced up his spine at the thought of an adult prankster joining the KPA and giving those two monsters _more_ ideas. He could practically feel himself going gray and pulling his hair out while the village went up in flames around his ears at there mere thought of Haruo and Naruto gaining an adult mentor in the deadly art of pranking. And yes, pranking was a deadly art. Because if you managed to prank a high level shinobi, then chances were you were skilled enough to assassinate a high level shinobi.

"_What about practical skills?_" Inoichi asked Black instead of commenting on or asking about his pranking skills.

"_Well, I can cook; 'bout near gave my mother an aneurysm when she heard that I'd learned the job of a house elf. I'm also a fair hand at potions. And while most of the stuff I used to brew were prank potions, I did learn how to make a number of healing potions. Antidotes and poisons were my specialty though. I can grow, harvest, and prepare most of my own ingredients too; well, unless it involved collecting them from the more dangerous animals, like dragons. I'm not stupid enough to tangle with something large enough to consider me an appetizer._"

The blond interrogator snorted in amusement over that last comment even as he filed away the information that the man in front of him could potentially be integrated into the shinobi force or the hospital staff as a poison specialist. He added a side note on the scroll he was using to keep track of the information he was gathering to have Black's skills tested once he'd been cleared by a medic. Inoichi was just mentally going over the list of questions he needed to ask the man in front of him when he was distracted by Black asking a question of his own.

"_How much longer is this interrogation going to take?_"

"_We're almost finished._"

"_Good, I've waited long enough to see my godson._"

"_I'm afraid that you're going to have to be patient for a little while longer, Black-san; you'll need to be cleared by the medics at the hospital first,_" Inoichi declared and immediately braced himself for an attack when a dark look crept onto the other man's face.

"_So, you intend to keep me from my godson?_"

"_Not at all. It's standard procedure for all prospective citizens to be given a full medical assessment to ensure that they are not carrying any contagious diseases that could potentially start an epidemic in the village. On top of that, it's quite obvious that the time you spent in prison was unkind to you._"

Black huffed as the dark look on his face morphed into a grimace before he petulantly muttered, "_Fine._"

"_Now that we've cleared that up; could you tell me how you plan to support yourself as a member of this village?_"

"_My family was amongst the four richest magical families in England and while most of the property, heirlooms, and a large percent of the liquid assets were entailed, the rest of it was soluble. I left what couldn't be liquidated to my godson, as he'd been named my heir the same day I was named his godfather and the rest of the fortune was converted to muggle money and gold so we could bring it with us since I'd left it to Moony in my will knowing that it would piss my mother off to learn that I'd halved the family fortune if I died before her. Too bad she died first._"

"_Since I faked my death, my will was activated; allowing Remus to remove the cash from the bank and because he hates charity, he refused to keep most of it. So, I guess technically, you could say that I already have the cash to support myself and Remus. I don't plan to sit around all day and do nothing though, so I'll probably try to find a job doing something. I just don't know what since there's not really much I can do. I know Remus has plans to look for work as well. We also plan to teach Harry how to use his magic once he turns eleven._"

"_Will your godson be required to attend the will reading?_" Inoichi inquired as he fought against the urge he felt to frown at the risk such a requirement might pose to Haruo.

"_No, the will would have already been read and Harry wouldn't be eligible to claim his inheritance until after he reaches his fifteenth birthday and only once my grandfather passes away. Since he's not even living in England, there's not much he'd get out of the inheritance in any case; since most of it is entailed. However, he does not need to live in England to claim the headship once my grandfather dies and doing so will prevent the rest of the family from getting their hands on the family's wealth. That was the whole point of naming my godson my heir anyway; to keep that fortune out of the hands of Voldemort's followers that married into the family like Malfoy and Lestrange._"

"_What will happen to your godson's inheritance if he does not claim it after he turns fifteen?_"

"_Nothing. It just sits there. So long as Harry lives, there's nothing anyone can do to take that away from him. If he dies without leaving a will and without siring an heir, then everything will go to the oldest male Black still living._"

Inoichi nodded in acknowledgement of that information before he asked, "_Does the same hold true of anything he stands to inherit from his mother and step-father?_"

"_Yes; though there isn't really much left of the Potter fortune. Two wars put a huge dent in it because the Potters were always right in the thick of things. It's why the family has been reduced to a single member; little Harry. The Potter properties that weren't sold off to raise funds were burnt to the ground in raids. Most of the Potter heirlooms went the same way since the items that were cleared out of the properties that were sold would have been moved to the properties that weren't. A few things might have made it into the Potter vaults but I couldn't say how much any of it is worth._"

"_Is your godson still eligible to receive that inheritance even though he is not a Potter by birth?_"

"_Yeah, James adopted Harry the day he was born and he was raising him as his son with the full knowledge that Harry was not of his blood. If he had a half brother of Potter blood or if James had had any other direct relatives, then he would have only received a small fraction of the fortune but because Harry is the only Potter left (adopted though he is), he stands to inherit everything._"

"_Do you know how much of the Potter inheritance is entailed?_"

"_None of it. In the wizarding world, entailment is only used when there are at least three potential inheritors in existence because it is designed to prevent the bulk of the family fortune from being scattered to the four winds._"

"_Last question, Black-san; would you be willing to allow me to view your memories of the last ten years?_"

"_Why?_"

"_I wish to see some of the events that you spoke about with my own eyes so that I can better understand them. Doing so will also allow me to properly gauge your intentions towards your godson and this village._"

"_And you want to see if I've been lying to you,_" Black shrewdly guessed.

"_No, I would have known if you were lying to me the moment you told your first lie._"

"_Really…?_"

"_Yes._"

"_Huh, that's a neat trick. Wish we'd had someone like you back when James was still alive; probably could have saved a lot of lives if we'd known how to spot the lies that Peter had been spewing for who knew how long._"

"_So, will you allow me to view your memories?_"

"_It's not going to hurt, is it?_"

"_No, the most you will feel is a touch of disorientation while I'm viewing the memories._"

"_In that case, yeah, sure; go ahead._"

"_Thank you, Black-san. If you wish, while I'm in your mind, I could also implant a basic template of the Japanese language to help speed up the learning process. Doing so will leave you with a mild headache for a day or two simply because adding knowledge to the brain through such a method easily overwhelms the brain as it incorporates the new information._"

"_That would probably be for the best; it'd probably take me too long to learn the language otherwise thanks to the dementors scrambling my brains for so long._"

"_Consider it done. One last question before I initialize the technique; do you have a barrier protecting your mind?_"

"_No, I used to but the dementors stripped my natural defenses from my mind and I haven't yet had time to rebuild them._"

Inoichi felt nothing but relief over Black's answer; he had not been looking forward to the possibility that the man's magic might lash out at him or thrown him from the man's mind like Haruo's magic had the first couple of times he'd tried to read the child's mind. That had _not_ been a pleasant experience. He climbed to his feet a moment later and walked around the table as he mentally prepared himself for the inevitable headache that viewing a large number of memories would bring. And a decade's worth of memories would hold a considerable amount of information.

"_Please try to relax and remain calm throughout the process,_" Inoichi instructed as he placed his right hand on Black's head before he brought his left hand up to form half a ram seal to help him focus.

Slipping into Black's mind was not much different than slipping into anyone else's mind but, like Haruo's mind, the older Trueborn's mind looked nothing like the minds of anyone else. However, where Haruo's mind was filled with light and greenery, Black's mind looked more like the burnt out ruins of an old castle on a dreary landscape. The only similarity between the man's mind and the boy's mind was the fact that their memories could be found in a body of water.

The pool of memories in Black's mind was more along the lines of a large lake rather than a small pond (a representation of the man's longer life) though. It also looked rather tainted; the memories the color of wet ashes instead of quicksilver like Haruo's. He suspected the discoloration had to do with the suffering the man had endured during his tenure as a prisoner in the wizarding prison he had spoken of. The other potential reason for the discoloration could have been the man's obvious anger and grief.

Inoichi was still standing beside the lake weighing the risks of viewing the memories it contained despite its tainted appearance when a tired voice addressed him from down by his feet, "Quite a depressing view, no?"

Glancing downward, Inoichi wasn't really surprised to find a bedraggled black dog looking identical to Black's alternate form laying beside his feet. He had half expected Black to have an inner avatar like Haruo did. He was just surprised that he had not seen said avatar the moment he entered the man's mind and that the man chose to stay in his animal form unlike Haruo's avatar; which changed into a boy every time he entered the boy's mind to view his memories.

"It is," Inoichi agreed as he pulled his gaze from the dog and returned it to the lake in front of him. "How dangerous will it be for me to view the memories in there?"

"You won't be harmed, if that's what you're worried about. The memories can't harm you. The memories only look the way they do because most of them are rather unpleasant."

"Ah, that's good to know."

"Are you going to dive in now?"

"Not exactly," Inoichi corrected as he crouched down to dip his hand into the tainted lake and caused the entire contents to surge up to form a murky ash-gray brain. "If you'll excuse me now, it's going to take me a while to sort through the decade's worth of memories I wish to view."

"Take your time; I'm not going anywhere."

Inoichi nodded as he placed a hand on the artificial brain and pulled a single memory scroll out so he could begin the process of viewing Black's memories. It would take him roughly five minutes per year of memories that he viewed and that was even with him skimming over the more repetitive memories. He had garnered a wealth of information though and confirmed that everything that Black had told him was the truth as far as Black knew. He'd already known the man hadn't lied to him but there had been a small possibility that the man had lied by omission; he hadn't.

Once he'd viewed the memories he'd come to see, Inoichi pulled his hand from murky memories and allowed the faux-brain to break down and return to the lake. He then took a moment to adjust to the large amount of information he'd just collected before he glanced down at Black's avatar.

"I still need to imprint the basic template of Japanese; will you show me where I can access the language center of your brain? Normally, I know where to look for that but your mind is quite different from most of the other minds that I've encountered through the years."

"This way," the dog instructed as the avatar heaved itself up onto its feet and began limping in the direction of the ruined castle.

Inoichi fell into step beside the creature and kept one eye on the dog while he carefully studied the mindscape he was passing through for any sign of tampering. It wasn't long before the two of them were entering the crumbling castle and Inoichi felt more than a little unsettled because of how close the ruins looked to collapsing due to the extent of the damage. He began to take even more care in searching his surroundings due to the slight risk that he was being led into a trap.

The dog eventually led him up to a door with eight alphabets carved into the wood somewhere on the fourth floor of the crumbling castle and as they stopped beside the door, the dog announced, "The place you are looking for is through that door."

"Thank you," Inoichi murmured as he carefully pushed the door open.

Inside of the room, he found two dozen dusty student desks spaced out into four rows of six and a large instructor's desk situated beside a large blackboard at the front of the room. On top of each desk, there was a single book, a feather quill, a jar of ink, and a rolled piece of parchment. Most of the items on the desks were covered with dust and a brief inspection of a few parchments and books revealed that they were completely blank.

It wasn't until he reached the front of the classroom that he found one desk that was dust free. The title on the book's cover proclaimed it to be an English dictionary and quick peek inside confirmed that it held thousands of words and their definitions. The parchment on that desk contained a detailed list of rules that applied to the English language. He wasn't quite certain what the quill and jar of ink could have represented; though he supposed that they could just be mental reflections of Black's ability to read and write the language.

A check of the closest desks that, while also covered with a light layer of dust, were not entirely untouched like the rest of the desks, turned up another seven dictionaries and notes on language rules; one for each of the other languages that Black had stated he could speak. There was also a ninth desk that held what looked like the start of a Japanese dictionary (the lettering was faded and there were only a small handful of entries in the book). The desk also glowed a faint white color and Inoichi wondered if that was due to the spell that Black mentioned had been cast on him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Inoichi ran through a series of hand signs before he placed his fingers in the center of his forehead and pulled out a copy of the Japanese language template that he would be implanting in Black's mind. The template was, in essence, a complex seal that contained a small dictionary of the most commonly used words of the Japanese language, the basic rules of the language, and a copy of the four alphabets that were used (basic kanji, hiragana, katakana, and romaji).

The seal was transferred onto the desk a heartbeat later and Inoichi watched as the dust vanished from the desk while the dictionary and parchment both were updated with the information contained in the seal. Inoichi nodded with satisfaction as he saw the template being readily accepted by Black's brain. Once all activity had stopped, Inoichi skimmed through both the parchment and dictionary to ensure that the information had not been jumbled during the transference before he prepared the leave Black's mind.

He hesitated at the last moment and glanced at the dog waiting for him at the door as he asked, "Would you be upset if I were to make a template of the Greek and Latin languages so that I might study them?"

"Nah, I don't care if you copy any of the languages in there; just don't touch the rune dictionaries on the professor's desk; those require magic to use and you might fry your brain if you tried to mess with them."

Inoichi nodded as he dusted off the desk holding the Greek language first so that he could make a clear template from the information there (his actions unintentionally refreshing Black's knowledge of that language). The completed template was then tucked into a mental 'pocket' so that it could be studied for errors and potential traps before he integrated it into his brain. He then turned his attention to the Latin desk and repeated the process on that language. There was no need for him to take templates of the other languages that Black knew since he was already familiar with them.

He was tempted to look at the books he hadn't previously noticed on the instructor's desk but refrained from doing so in light of the avatar's warning. He did make a mental note to ask Black about the runes another time though. After a final glance about the room, Inoichi withdrew and closed the door behind him. When he glanced at the alphabets that were carved into the door, he was rather pleased to notice the faint etchings of the romaji alphabet appearing on the door and determined that the alphabets represented the spoken languages that Black knew.

"I'm finished here now," Inoichi declared as he pulled his eyes form the door and glanced down at the dog as the two of them began retracing their path through the castle. "I only have a couple of quick questions before I leave. First, why are you still a dog? Shouldn't your mental avatar be human?"

"I'm not a mental avatar; I represent Black's inner animal and this is my only form."

"What would it mean if a person's 'inner animal' was a human?"

"That they have no animal form because they cling too tightly to their human nature."

"And an inner animal that changes forms with every step they take?"

"That would be an indication that their inner nature is still evolving and maturing and a clear indication that the mind you are in is the mind of a child or a pre-pubescent teen."

"I see," Inoichi replied as the two of them finally reached the blackened entrance of the ruins. "The other question I wished to ask you is; why does your mindscape appear as a ruined castle?"

"A wizard's mindscape will always reflect the one place that a wizard considers his home. Hogwarts Castle was my home because that was where I was happiest. The reason that the castle is in ruins is because my mind was ravaged by the constant exposure to the dementors. It will take time to restore the castle to its former glory or in this case, heal the damage done to my mind."

"I believe I understand," Inoichi stated as he glanced around at the destruction with new eyes. "If you will excuse me now; I believe it is time for me to leave."

The dog nodded before it limped off in the direction of the forest where Inoichi could make out the vague shadows of a familiar wolf and stag hiding amongst the trees. The Yamanaka vanished from the mindscape a heartbeat later when he ended the jutsu in order to return to his own mind. He winced slightly when the full force of the technique induced headache surged through his brain before he beat the pain down to more manageable levels.

"I believe that we are finished now, Black-san," Inoichi rasped the moment he dropped his hand away from Black's forehead. "Do you have any questions for me?" Black slowly shook his head no; the pinched expression on the man's face a clear indication that he too had a headache. "In that case, if you'll wait here for a moment, I'll send someone to escort you to the hospital for your medical assessment."

Inoichi took a couple of minutes to gather his scroll of notes before he left the room. He paused just outside the door to inform the Chuunin on guard outside of the room to inform her that he was finished with the man inside and that she would need to watch over him until Kuma turned up to escort him to the hospital. Inoichi knew Kuma well enough that he would not want to let the man out of his sight due to his connection to Haruo.

The blond Jounin then squared his shoulders and headed for the room across the hall where Lupin was currently waiting his turn to be interviewed. Inoichi grimaced at the thought of rummaging through yet another mind and dug out a couple of aspirins to dull the headache he had so he could concentrate on the up coming conversation. At least he'd have a chance to rest his mind before he viewed Lupin's memories.

* * *

**Notes:**

Sirius's Birthday – Sirius's birthday was randomly chosen as JKR has not given us one for him to date as far as I could tell (and yes, I checked recently to make certain).

Sirius's Middle Name – I'd also like to point out that in canon, Sirius DOES **NOT** have a middle name; using Orion as Sirius's middle name is FANON. So, knowing that, I chose to veer away from canon (&amp; fanon) when I picked Alphard as Sirius's middle name since Sirius was close enough to the man for him to leave him money in his will and in order for that to have happened, then his parents had to have allowed that contact at some point. (i.e.; Walburga and Orion got along enough with their relative prior to him offending them by leaving gold to their disowned son).

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	22. Interview with a Marauder (Take Two)

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two: Interview with a Marauder (Take Two)

_April 28, 1990, 5:27 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Remus glanced at the watch on his left arm and noted that he'd now been left cooling his heels in this room for over two hours and let out a gusty sigh. He was bored. Remus was usually a very patient man but he couldn't help but feel antsy over how long it was taking the blond shinobi to question Sirius. Nor was he all that pleased that the two of them had been separated. Oh, he understood _why_ they had been split up and had even expected them to use that tactic (divide and conquer and all that rot) but that didn't mean he liked it.

He also couldn't quite ignore the hard knot in his stomach as the fear that he'd be shipped back to England alone or executed the moment the shinobi learned what he was. Remus really wanted to hide his werewolf side from everyone in the village but he knew that hiding that part of him would get him killed. It was the one warning that Lily had given to him in regards to himself personally when she'd asked him to find Haruo so the man could take little Harry to his home.

Even now he could clearly recall her words; "_I know you'd prefer that no one ever learned about the wolf, Remus, but if you ever manage to get Harry to his father and wish to live near him, then you __**must**__ tell them that you're a werewolf. If you were to hide it from them and they were to later learn of your other side, then you'd suffer for it and you'd lose your only chance to train Harry in preparation for the future he must face. Promise me, Remus, promise me that you will not let your fear of yourself overrule your common sense._"

Another sigh escaped Remus's lips as he reached up to wearily run his hand over his face.

He felt old.

And tired.

That was nothing new though. He'd felt old and tired long before he started Hogwarts. It was only after he'd befriended the other Marauders and Lily that he finally felt young and full of life. Losing most of his pack in a single night through the betrayal of one who was supposed to be pack had taken a good chunk of his youth though and there had been times when he'd come so close to giving up because it hurt too much to keep going without them in his life. It was only the thought of Harry and Sirius that had kept him going.

They were all that was left of his pack now.

Remus's introspection was interrupted at that precise moment as the blond shinobi that Harry's biological father had introduced to them earlier stepped into the room. Remus immediately noticed that the man was in pain even if the shinobi was hiding it rather well. The werewolf was long familiar with the little tale-tell signs of hidden pain though; he'd seen them on his reflection in the mirror on the morning after the full moon more times than he could count.

"I apologize for keeping you waiting; your companion's tale was a bit more long-winded than I'd originally expected."

"Getting _Padfoot_ to talk was always far easier than getting him to shut up," Remus quipped with a small smile as he recalled the numerous times that Sirius's long-winded rambling tirades had been the reason that they'd been caught in the wake of a prank.

Mr. Yamanaka laughed in response to his remark as he slid into the seat across from Remus before he asked, "Before I actually start your interview, do you have a solid enough grasp on the Japanese language for me to interview you in Japanese or would you prefer to have the interview conducted in English?"

"Japanese is fine; I can always ask for clarification if you use any words that I'm unfamiliar with."

"In that case, could you please start by confirming your full name, age, and date of birth for me?"

"Lupin Remus John or if you are looking for the westernized ordering it is Remus John Lupin, I turned thirty last month, and my date of birth is March tenth, nineteen-sixty."

"Can you provide me with the city and/or country in which you were born?"

"St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in London, England."

"Out of all the villages that you could have chosen to move to; what made you chose to move to Konoha?"

"Konoha is where my honorary nephew ended up after his biological father took custody of him and in order for Sirius and I to be part of Harry's life, we needed to be in Konoha as well."

"If you are so intent on being apart of your honorary nephew's life, then why didn't you take him in after his mother and step-father were killed?"

Remus closed his eyes and bowed his head as the shame of what he was passed through him again. This was also the moment he had to decide if he would honor the promise he gave Lily or if he would be far too much of a coward to follow trough. He'd already given hints to man he knew only as Haruo (it was quite apparent that that wasn't the man's actual name, even if he did respond to it) but that was different than actually coming right out and saying it. After a moment, he took a deep breath and held it for a moment before he released it in a soft sigh as he reopened his eyes.

A promise was a promise and he wasn't about to go back on his word now; he _wa_s a Gryffindor when all was said and done.

"I was infected with an incurable curse that can be likened to a disease when I was seven years old and from that point forward I've been classified as something less than human by the wizarding world. Most magicals consider me a dark creature and there are wards that prevent me from entering certain places due to the curse that runs through my veins. That same curse was what prevented me from taking custody of Harry when James and Lily died. It also prevented me from visiting Harry once he was placed in his aunt's custody."

"What is the name of the curse?"

"_Lycanthropy,_" Remus answered in English since he did not know if there was a Japanese translation of the word; though he did know there was a Japanese word for what he was.

"I am unfamiliar with that word," Mr. Yamanaka admitted as a slight frown pulled the corners of his mouth downwards.

"It is the Latin derivative of the Greek term _lukanthrōpia_ which comes from the words _lukos_ (meaning wolf) and the word _anthrōpos_ (meaning human or man). To put it bluntly, I am what you would call an ookamiotoko."

Remus watched the man blink in surprise before a skeptical look formed on his face as he eyed Remus. The skeptical look soon turned thoughtful and Remus briefly wondered if Sirius had unintentionally mentioned Remus's condition to the man. It was even possible that the shinobi in front of him had simply picked up that information out of Sirius's mind if the man was one of those shinobi capable of reading minds.

"Are you contagious?" Mr. Yamanaka slowly inquired and Remus was briefly caught off guard by the fact that the man apparently believed him without any real effort on his part.

"Yes, however, I can only infect others through the saliva of my wolf form as there are glands in a werewolf's mouth that secrete a venom-like substance that carries the infection. In order for the infection to take a hold of a new carrier, it must be introduced to the victim's bloodstream directly from the mouth of the werewolf. The most common method used to transfer the curse is through a bite but it can also be transmitted through an open wound if you come in contact with fresh saliva."

"Can the disease also be transmitted through contact with a werewolf's blood?"

"No, the virus is not present in the blood; only in the saliva. Though, I would not recommend drinking werewolf blood or allowing it to come into contact with an open wound. Werewolf blood decomposes at an advanced rate and ingesting it has been known to make the drinker deathly ill while open wounds contaminated with werewolf blood tend to become infected within an hour of contact and will turn gangrenous in two-three hours if left untreated. Once the contaminated injury reaches the gangrenous stage, the only way to stop the infection from spreading is through amputation."

"What of your blood and saliva while in human form?"

"Mostly harmless but I would not recommend using my blood for transfusions since my blood does carry a weakened form of the curse. My mouth does not produce the venom-like virus that would infect another with my curse though as my human form lacks the proper glands."

"Are you able to transform at will like Black-san?"

"No, my transformation is entirely involuntary and I will only transform on the night of the full moon."

"Do you have any control over yourself while you are in wolf form?"

"No; the wolf completely takes control before the transformation is complete."

"Can the wolf be reasoned with?"

"No, it's no different than any other rabid animal you'd encounter. It will also attack any human it comes into contact without any hesitation."

"And have you ever bitten anyone while in your wolf form?"

"No."

"How can you be certain? Are you able to see out of the eyes of the wolf while you are transformed?"

"I retain the memories of my wolf side; though they are rather fuzzy and can be difficult to interpret at times. I also take precautions to ensure that I'm in a building from which my werewolf form is unable to escape and that is secured against entry in order to prevent anyone from stumbling upon me while I'm in my transformed state. Additionally, Sirius is able to keep my wolf form in check while is in his dog form since animals are unable of contracting _lycanthropy_."

"I see," Mr. Yamanaka murmured before he pinned Remus with an icy gaze that promised certain death if he so much as put one toe out of line. "I have to be honest with you, Lupin-san; I'm very unsettled to learn that you withheld your condition on your initial application. However, I can understand why you would do so. The problem is that your wolf side represents a clear danger to the village. What guarantees can you give us that you won't get loose and terrorize the entire village every full moon?"

"I can't guarantee anything," Remus replied in a measured tone as he carefully chose his words. "There are far too many factors that I can't control. What I can do, is promise that I will take as many precautions as possible in order to prevent any accidents from happening. That is part of the reason why I came right out and told you what I am now; instead of trying to keep it a secret. I also have no doubt that there are techniques that someone in this village knows that could be used in conjunction with my normal precautions to increase the security of the building I would use to contain the wolf on the night of the full moon each month."

Mr. Yamanaka issued a non-committal hum in response to Remus's answer and asked, "Do you speak any other languages aside from English and Japanese?"

Remus blinked at the sudden change in topic and took a split second to switch mental gears before he answered, "Yes, I also speak Greek, French, Latin, and Russian."

"Where would you rate your fluency in those languages?"

"Very high in French, Latin, and Greek while my Russian is rather shaky since it has been well over a decade and a half since I last spoke it."

"Does your mastery of those four languages and your Japanese include reading and writing the languages?"

"Yes, though I will admit that I still have difficulty with reading and writing kanji."

"At least half the village has trouble with their kanji," Mr. Yamanaka dryly remarked with a soft snort of amusement. "Is it very common for Trueborns to be taught multiple languages?"

"Not really. The only two languages we focused on in Hogwarts were English and Latin; English because it was the language of the majority and Latin because it is considered to be the language of magic throughout Europe. Sirius taught our group of friends Greek because that was the language we planned out our pranks in and I learned Russian as a young child because my grandmother only spoke Russian. I learned French after Hogwarts because I had hoped I could get a job in France when no one would hire me in Britain and Lily suggested that I learn Japanese after she found out that she was pregnant with Harry."

"Aside from the languages you know; what other skills do you have?"

"I'm a _Spell Crafter_ by trade; meaning that I create new spells or improve exiting ones. As such, I'm an expert in practical arithmancy which is a form of maths that is used to calculate the magical frequency of a spell, potion, ritual, or runic ward. I'm also an informal dueler and my strengths were in charms (those spells that physically affect an object or person without altering the targets basic structure) and defensive magics. And lastly, I have unrecognized Masteries in Magical Theory and Magical History as the Guilds refused to recognize my accomplishments due to my condition."

"On the non-magical side, I'm more of a Jack-of-all-Trades. I know a bit of construction, plumbing, bookkeeping, ship building, and appliance repair. I've also been a dishwasher, waiter, salesman, cashier, bagboy, delivery boy, researcher, and bellhop just to name a few of the other odd jobs I've held. The only other job I've had is tutoring but that was mostly on the magical side since I did not receive a non-magical education growing up due to my status as a werewolf."

"Is it just the prejudice that prevented you from getting a full education or keeping a steady job? Or does your… condition affect your ability to function normally around the time of the full moon?"

"My condition has a few adverse effects upon my person," Remus answered a touch bitterly as he gave the man a humorless smile. "I tend to grow ill during the three days prior to the full moon as the wolf in me rises closer to the surface and I'm usually laid up for between three and seven days following the full moon. The length of time I'm laid up afterwards is dependant on how much damage I do to myself during the night of the full moon."

"What kind of damage are we talking about here?"

"The transformation itself is rather painful as the curse forcefully breaks and reshapes every single bone in my body as I shift from human to wolf and again when I go from wolf to human and I do not have the benefit of my magic easing the transformation in the same way an _animagus_ might. On top of that, if the wolf is in an especially foul mood, then it will attack itself in the absence of prey or companionship. Most of the scars I have are the result of the wolf scratching and biting itself. The only exception is the bite mark on the back of my left calf where the werewolf who turned me bit me."

"Are there any benefits to being a werewolf?"

"Yes, there are a few; enhanced senses, amplified physical strength, stamina, and speed, increased healing factor, a high pain threshold, and an immunity to most illnesses and ailments such as the common cold, various mutations of the flu virus, and food poisoning. There are also several additional drawbacks; an increased likelihood of developing arthritis, a severe allergy to silver, premature aging, a chance of receiving a crippling injury during violent transformations, a higher risk of developing frostbite or hypothermia in colder climates, and in cases where a child is turned prior to their eleventh birthday like I was, the growth of their magical core is hampered and in some cases damaged to the point where they are never able to use their magic."

"How significant was the damage done to your core when you were turned?"

"I was fairly lucky; I retained my ability to use a wand but I lost around forty percent of my magical potential and as a result I ended up as one of the least powerful wizards of my generation. What I lack in power though, I've made up for in control since I waste far less magic when casting my spells."

"Is your condition hereditary in addition to being contagious?"

"I don't know. There is evidence that some traits, such as the enhanced senses or a preference for undercooked or raw meats, can be passed on to our offspring but I do not know if any child of mine would be born with the full curse. There is an increased chance that they would be a carrier of the curse though and that if they were to produce children with another carrier, then their children could potentially be born with the full curse."

"Knowing that you will be out of commission for at least a week every month; how do you intend to support yourself?"

"By taking any odd jobs available in the event that my employer is unwilling to give me time off around the full moon each month. As much as I loathe being given charity, I also have a small fortune that I inherited through Sirius's will when I helped him fake his death (since he refused to take all of his money back) that I can live off of in between jobs."

Mr. Yamanaka leaned back in his chair and studied Remus yet again; his face impassive but his eyes at least no longer quite as hard or as cold as they had been earlier. Remus hoped that meant that the man was not about to throw him in prison or execute him to remove the potential threat of Moony going on a rampage. The fact that the man hadn't just walked out of the room after he'd learned about the monster Remus carried inside was an encouraging sign. Or, at least, that was the way that Remus chose to see the shinobi's decision to complete his interview.

"Earlier, you stated that you wished to be a part of your honorary nephew's life; what kind of role do you see yourself taking in his life?"

"I'd settle for whatever role Harry allowed me to have in his life; whether that is as an uncle or merely a tutor is up to him. All I want is a chance to watch him grow up, to help protect him from those who would use or abuse him, and teach him to properly harness his magic to prevent him from damaging his core."

Mr. Yamanaka hummed thoughtfully and scribbled down a few notes in the scroll he'd taken out of his pocket at the start of the interview. Remus did his best to ignore the scratching of the pencil across the paper as he wondered what the man across from his was thinking. Not even Professor McGonagall had been as hard to read as Mr. Yamanaka. His inability to gauge the man's thoughts made him nervous because he was unable to determine whether or not the revelation of his condition was going to have any negative repercussions.

"Do you know what a shinobi is, Lupin-san?" Mr. Yamanaka asked out of the blue.

"The English definition of the word is thief or assassin and another word for a shinobi is 'ninja'," Remus stated as he thought about all of the information he'd gathered when he'd been searching for Harry's father. "However, from what I understand of this hidden world, they are more along the lines of policemen, soldiers, martial artists, secret agents, and bodyguards all rolled into one."

"That is a rather accurate, if incomplete, summation of what we do," Mr. Yamanaka agreed with a slight inclination of his head. "What is your opinion of those individuals that choose to take up the life of a shinobi?"

Remus frowned briefly as he considered the question before he slowly replied, "I can't imagine that a shinobi would be all that different than any other person I met and my opinion of individual shinobi would be based upon their actions and personality; much like my opinion of other people, regardless of their career choices or familial connections."

"Does it bother you to know that shinobi will not hesitate to take the life of another as part of their job?"

"That would greatly depend on why they killed. I would never condemn a person who killed in self-defense or to protect those unable to defend themselves. At the same time, I could never respect a person who killed innocents. Nor could I respect someone who killed for pleasure."

"How do you feel about children being taught the skills of a shinobi?"

"Is this about Harry following in his father's footsteps?" Remus countered calmly. "If it is, then you have my word that I will not stand in his way or make any attempts to change his mind. Lily warned us that Harry's life would be far from easy regardless of which path he ended up on and the last thing I'd want is to make things harder for Harry by butting heads with him over his decision to emulate his father."

"And would you still feel the same way if you were to learn that your honorary nephew took up the life of a shinobi before he even entered puberty?"

"Yes."

"And if he were to take a life before he entered puberty?"

"I would be unhappy to learn that a piece of his innocence had been taken from him but I would not turn my back on him. Nor would I seek to make him feel guilty for protecting himself, his home, or his friends."

"Would you interfere with his training if you thought his instructor was being too harsh on him?"

"That would depend on whether the instructor is simply pushing him to his limits or if he was attempting to break him. I may not stand in Harry's way when it comes to him following in the footsteps of his father but there's nothing on earth that would keep me from hurting those that sought to intentionally harm Harry physically, mentally, or emotionally."

"How far would you go to protect your honorary nephew?"

"I would die for him," Remus replied without hesitation.

"Would you kill to protect him?"

"Yes."

"Going back, you said that you wished to teach your nephew how to harness his magic; what exactly is it that you plan to teach him?"

"I would start off by teaching him magical theory, astronomy, and the relevant histories that pertain to his Potter heritage while Sirius would teach him herbology, magical creatures, and basic potion making which would focus on ingredient preparation and brewing safety. Once he turns eleven, we would begin teaching him wanded magic such as charms, transfiguration, and how to defend himself from unfriendly spells and dangerous creatures in addition to teaching him how to brew simple potions. If he showed an interest or aptitude, we'd also begin teaching him the theory behind arithmancy and ancient runes."

"Why wait until he is eleven to start teaching him 'spells'? Why not start sooner?"

"A wizard's magical core is… unstable, for lack of a better word, until they reach their eleventh birthday. The reason for that instability is the fact that the magical core is still in what is considered the developmental stage. It's during the wizard's first eleven years of life that the size of their magical core is determined through a combination of genetics, health, and their environment. If one was to teach a child under the age of eleven how to cast spells, the fluctuating levels of magic and stress of constantly drawing it from their core would cause their core to either collapse or rupture."

"What are the repercussions of a collapsed or ruptured core?"

"A collapsed core would result in the child permanently losing their magic while a ruptured core would result in a very slow, painful death."

"What of the accidental outbursts that occur when a young Trueborn is emotionally stressed? Do they also carry the risk of collapsing or rupturing the core?"

"It would depend on the age of the wizard, the size of the outbursts, and the frequency at which the outbursts occur. An occasional minor outburst is welcomed and encouraged since it is considered proof that the child is magical. However, frequent or large outbursts are a major concern because there is a risk of the child magically exhausting themselves or damaging their cores. Frequent outbursts from an underage wizard are also an indication that the child is under constant emotional or physical stress and is considered to be one of three warning signs that a magical child is being abused."

"What are the other two signs of abuse?"

"One is a complete lack of magical outbursts (also called magical repression) because the child has learned to fear magic (though this sign often has the child mistaken as a squib – meaning a child born without magic – rather than a sign that he or she is in an abusive environment). The other sign is what we call a 'sparking' or a 'sparking core' where the child's magic continuously lashes out at anyone who approaches them. That's not even counting the mundane signs of abuse that non-magical professionals are trained to spot – though magical abuse does not always leave physical evidence."

Mr. Yamanaka frowned as he stared down at the scroll of notes he taken (the man obviously in deep thought) while he absently tapped his pencil against the table before he abruptly returned his attention to Remus to ask, "Can a collapsed or ruptured core be repaired?"

"No, by the time a magical core has been damaged or stressed enough to collapse in on itself or rip itself apart, it's far too late for the damage to be healed."

"Are there any outward signs that would indicate when a magical core that is on the verge of collapsing or rupturing?"

"Typically, sparking is a sign that a core is close to rupturing, magical repression is considered a sign that a core is on the verge of collapse, and frequent large-scale accidental outbursts are often treated as an indication that the child's core is approaching the point where it could collapse or rupture. Other signs include a complete one-eighty in personality (such as a boisterous child going unnaturally quiet), chronic exhaustion or insomnia, loss of appetite coupled with rapid weight loss, and severe chest pain that flares up either before or after an accidental outburst."

"If a child's core has been stressed to the point where the child is exhibiting one or more of the symptoms you listed, is the potential damage to his or her still treatable?"

"Yes."

"How do you treat a damaged magical core?"

"By removing the child from the source of their stress and placing them into a magically induced healing coma to allow their body and core time to heal while their mind is 'sleeping'. While they are in the healing coma, a mind healer will usually go in and 'mute' those memories that triggered their state of decline in order to prevent a relapse and buy enough time for someone to help the child deal with the stress or abuse they were enduring once they wake up."

"Does the potential risk of damaging their core disappear entirely once a Trueborn Sage reaches their eleventh birthday or is the level of risk just reduced?"

"The risk of causing permanent damage to their magical core is significantly reduced once a magical reaches their eleventh birthday but it won't be eliminated completely until sometime between their seventeenth and twenty-fifth birthdays; when their magical core reaches full maturity. That's not to say an adult can't damage their core, they can, but it would take a considerable amount of stress for them to do so. An adult is also more likely to burn out their core than cause it to collapse or rupture."

"What is the difference between a burnt out magical core and a collapsed or ruptured core?"

"A collapsed core is unable to hold magic while a burnt out core can hold magic but it is inaccessible to the wizard. Any attempts to cast a spell after burning out your core would result in extreme chest pain due to the level of damage done to the core and the nerves surrounding the core. A ruptured core, on the other hand, can be compared to having a ruptured appendix or perforated intestines; the organ is heavily damaged, unable to hold anything, and spilling its toxic contents out into the rest of the body."

"How does one burn out their magical core?"

"Continuously casting high level spells over an extended period of time. The likelihood of an adult burning out their core decreases during times of peace since there isn't a need for them to cast high level spells back to back. That is especially true now that Honor Duels have fallen out of favor. The only exceptions would be for _Warders_, _Ward Breakers_, and _Curse Breakers_ as all three occupations use powerful magics and spells on a regular basis."

"Can a burnt out core be healed?"

"It depends on the amount of damage done to the core and whether or not the wizard continued casting after the initial damage was done. The treatment for mild cases of burnout is a total cessation of all casting to allow for the core to rest and heal. More severe cases will see the wizard being placed in a healing coma and placed in isolation to eliminate the possibility that an inborn trait could potentially place more stress on their core and potentially exacerbate the damage."

Silence filled the room once more as Mr. Yamanaka took a moment to take notes on the information Remus had just given him. The man then skimmed through the scroll before he returned to the original topic as he inquired, "Could you give me some examples of the types of spells that you would teach your nephew?"

"In the beginning, we would stick to simple spells; such as turning a matchstick into a needle, color changing charms, the Light Spell, the Levitation Spell, and an assortment of low level hexes and jinxes. Once he has mastered the basics, we would teach him progressively stronger and harder spells such as transfiguring objects into animals, summoning objects from across the room, spells that open locked doors, spells to conjure ropes or chains, and various shields that could protect him from projectiles or unfriendly spells."

"And how useful do you believe those spells would be for a shinobi?" Mr. Yamanaka inquired.

"Once mastered, transfiguration spells can be used against an enemy to distract, incapacitate, or potentially kill them; such as transfiguring a fallen tree into a dragon or a tangle of vines into a cage. Charms can be used to animate chains to move on their own or summon an object like a large boulder to shield against an attack. There are several spells that are designed to incapacitate opponents; one example would be the Stunning Spell that knocks a person unconscious for up to eight hours. And lastly, there are two transportation spells that can be used to travel vast distances in mere seconds."

"Will you be teaching him strictly from memory or will you need to return to England to purchase books and other tools?"

"We brought everything that we would need to teach him with us," Remus replied as his thoughts drifted to the numerous trunks of supplies and books he'd been collecting over the past six years; including those items that Lily had purchased and left in his care before she died. "Our escorts sealed everything into something they called storage seals to make transporting the numerous trunks easier."

"And if your nephew does not wish to be trained?"

Remus winced since he knew that there was a slight chance that Harry would not want to learn what he had to teach him before he stated, "He would at least need to learn the basics in order to avoid damaging his core through continued uncontrolled magical outbursts that occur when he is overly emotional or stressed but beyond gaining a certain level of control over his magic, he would not be obligated to learn the higher levels of spells. Nor would I force him to learn every branch of magic if he only wished to stick to those spells that complimented his current skill set."

"Very well, I only have one final question for you; will you allow me to view your memories of the past ten years?"

"You do realize that my mind is a rather dangerous place to be due to the wolf, right?" Remus asked quietly as he tried not to think about what might happen to him if Mr. Yamanaka was harmed while inside of his mind.

"Dangerous how?"

"The wolf is highly territorial and while he is caged, metaphorically speaking, he is by no means tamed and if you draw too close to him, he will seek to attack you. It doesn't help that the next full moon is rapidly approaching and the closer it gets to the full moon, the stronger the wolf is."

"When is the next full moon?"

"May ninth; so roughly a week and a half from now."

"What if I were to wait until a few days after the full moon? Would the level of danger decrease?"

"The best time to risk it would be on a new moon; when the wolf is at its weakest."

"Does that mean you would allow me to view your memories on the next new moon?"

"Yes."

"Then I will make a note to meet with you on that day. In the mean time, could you give me a list of special requirements you would need on the night of the full moon as far as accommodations are concerned?"

"Ideally, I would use a concrete basement with only one possible entrance that could be barred from both the inside and the outside and I'd layer security wards over the entire room to ensure that the wolf couldn't get out and that humans couldn't get in while the door was barred. The size of the basement wouldn't really be all that important but having a bit of room for Moony to stretch his legs out would ensure that he didn't try too hard to get out. Sirius's presence during the transformation for the first time in nine years would also be welcome since _Padfoot_ would be able to distract _Moony_."

"Would you also need live prey to hunt?"

"Err, no; the only prey that a werewolf will hunt is humans. They have no interest in eating the flesh of animals; else I would've devoured my friends when they were in their animagus forms."

"If we are unable to secure a basement for your use, is there another type of housing that would suffice?"

"An old shack in the middle of a remote forest as far removed from human habitations as possible."

"I will see what I can arrange," Mr. Yamanaka stated as he rose to his feet. "Please remain here while I arrange for someone to escort you to the hospital for a medical assessment."

Remus nodded in compliance and watched the blond stride out of the room without looking back. He let out an explosive sigh a moment later and ran a weary hand over his face now that the interview (more like interrogation) was over. After a couple of minutes, he wondered what Sirius was doing and how his most impulsive friend was handling everything. He hadn't heard any yelling since they were separated so he hoped that meant that the other wizard had not lost his temper.

He hadn't been waiting for more than seven minutes when one of his masked escorts from the journey to Konoha entered the room and signaled for him to follow him. Part of him was slightly disappointed that it wasn't Harry's biological father escorting him to the hospital; he had hoped to question the man about Harry's well being over the past six years. He'd tried asking the man questions about Harry during their journey but he'd been very tightlipped on the topic outside of (grudgingly) stating that Harry was fine.

The masked shinobi led Remus out of the building where he had been interviewed and through the streets of Konoha in complete silence; not that the man had been all that talkative during their journey to the Elemental Nations. In fact, out of their three escorts, the only one willing to speak to him or Sirius had been the masked Haruo. The other two had been silent guards that watched Remus and Sirius's every move. It had been kind of unnerving but they had at least not been hostile outside of their initial meeting but that had almost been expected.

The werewolf dropped his internal musings on his silent escort and the information block on Harry's life here in Konoha (he had noticed that Mr. Yamanaka had not once used Harry's name) as the two of them reached the hospital. A bare ten minutes later, he was dressed in a paper-thin and barely adequate hospital gown as one nurse took his vital signs while another grilled him endlessly about his medical history. Remus answered as many of the questions as he could and did his best not to fidget over the hands-on techniques that the nurse used; the thirty year old had grown too used to healers using magic to collect the same information.

Once he'd finished answering all of the nurse's questions about his health, Remus would spend the next several hours being put through a battery of tests and exams. After the final test had been administered, Remus was checked into a private room for the evening while he waited for the results. As he ate the bland, if nutritional, supper that the hospital staff had provided for him, Remus wondered again how Sirius was fairing.

He really hoped the old dog wasn't causing problems.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Ookamiotoko – werewolf

**Notes:**

Remus's Birthday – Remus's birthday, unlike Sirius's birthday, is canon (as far as the month and day is concerned) while his year of birth is conjecture based upon James and Lily's birthdays as given in Chap 16 of HP &amp; the Deathly Hallows.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	23. Calamity on the Bridge

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three: Calamity on the Bridge

_May 01, 1990, 6:21 AM  
Unfinished Bridge, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo happily bounced down the stairs in Naruto's wake. He was rather excited as he was finally no longer on restriction now that Kakashi had finally determined that his chakra reserves were fully recovered after he'd exhausted himself a week ago. For the last couple of days, all he'd been allowed to do was link storage seals together with the new seal chains that Kakashi had taught him how to draw and some light exercises and stretches. He hadn't even been able to charge the dirt that had been sealed into the storage seals he was linking together with earth natured chakra; Kakashi had done that.

On the plus side, Haruo now had around a ton and a half of chakra charged dirt split between three scrolls and sixty seals (each scroll containing twenty linked seals filled with dirt that had been liberally mixed with grass seeds – the latter only present because they were intended to help him shape the dirt without wasting a large amount of chakra).

The seals used to link storage seals together were actually fairly simple to make; the trick was to remember to fill the storage scrolls before you started linking them together; otherwise you'd trigger the release of the linked seals the moment you pushed your chakra into a seal to fill an empty seal. You also had to factor in the time delays if you wanted the linked seals to release in a series instead of all at once. Haruo had practiced timing the links using sealed grass seeds so that he wouldn't waste the chakra charged dirt on dud link chains.

The practice had doubled as a chakra control exercise too since even the slightest brush of elemental chakra against the seeds would make them sprout. And if he had cut loose with his elemental chakra even once during said practice (even accidentally), then Kakashi would have banned him from training entirely due to the fact that he had still been recovering from chakra exhaustion at the time.

As fascinating as learning the new sealing array was, Haruo had been more than a little bored over the past few days. He hadn't even been allowed to practice the disk concentration exercise because it used nearly eight times more chakra than the link-seals. Worse yet was the fact that he'd had to spend most of the past few days away from Naruto because he hadn't been allowed to tag along when it was Naruto's turn to guard the bridge builder. At least Naruto had been allowed to leave him a few Kage Bunshin behind to keep him company but it wasn't really the same as having Naruto around.

That would all change today though.

Today, he was going to be partnered up with Naruto to watch over Tazuna for the first four hours this morning and then he'd be doing four hours of _real_ training alongside of Naruto after Sakura took their place on the bridge and before it was their turn to watch over Tsunami and Inari. A brief scowl passed over Haruo's face as his thoughts touched on Tazuna's grandson; the kid was always whining and moaning and it was annoying. Even more annoying than the eight year old's pessimistic mindset was Sasuke's sniping about how Haruo was just as much of a crybaby as Inari.

If not for the fact that Kakashi was closely monitoring his recovery, Haruo would have gladly set Sasuke-baka straight by pranking the snot out of him. Unfortunately, Kakashi had been keeping a close eye on Haruo (and his chakra levels) and he had therefore been unable to plot Sasuke's demise (so to speak). That was probably for the best though; since he was in enough trouble for fighting on a mission and didn't need to add pranking on a mission to his list of 'sins'. He really didn't want to be given a lecture on maintaining professionalism in front of a client by his father.

Bad enough he was going to get another lecture on the dangers of chakra exhaustion when he got home.

Haruo pushed his irritation over his least favorite teammate's attitude to the back of his mind as he jumped off the final step and followed Naruto to the kitchen where he could hear Tsunami setting breakfast on the table. Just before he stepped into the kitchen, Haruo carefully schooled his face into the innocent mask that almost always made women coo over him. It was a mask he had perfected to make adults overlook Naruto since so long as he wore the mask, the adults would be far more focused on Haruo rather than glaring at the blond.

Prior to the Mizuki Incident, Haruo hadn't known why the civilians had treated Naruto so coldly but it had always rubbed him the wrong way. Those looks had reminded him far too much of the way the Dursleys used to look at him before his father had taken him away from them. Knowing what he did now about the Kyuubi, Haruo finally understood that it wasn't really Naruto that they had been giving those looks to. It had been the Kyuubi. And they had been glaring at Naruto because they refused to look passed the Kyuubi to see Naruto.

Knowing that didn't change the fact that Haruo didn't like it when people glared at Naruto that way.

In fact, knowing the reason why most of Konoha glared at Naruto only made Haruo even more determined to draw their attention away from his friend. That meant that he needed to improve the effectiveness of his 'innocent mask' in order to increase his, as Ayame called it, his 'adorableness'. He wouldn't consider his innocent mask perfected until he could use it to 'charm the socks off' of Sasuke's fan-girls (not that they wore socks). Shaking his head at the nonsensical direction his thoughts had taken, Haruo entered the kitchen with his mask in place.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Tsunami-san," Haruo chirped in greeting the moment the woman glanced over in his and Naruto's direction. Haruo then glanced around to see who else was in the kitchen before he added, "Ohayou, sensei! Tazuna-san! Inari-kun! Sakura-sempai!"

"Ohayou, Haruo-kun," Tsunami greeted in return as she graced Haruo with a warm smile and ruffed his hair as he slipped into the chair beside the seat that Naruto had taken as Tazuna and Kakashi echoed her greeting while Sakura just sort of stared at him in shock and confusion in response to the honorific he'd tacked onto her name.

Directly across from him, Inari took offense to the attention that his mother had just given the youngest Genin present and the boy scowled fiercely at Haruo. Haruo's mask slipped just the slightest bit as he sent the younger boy a brief smirk in return before he reschooled his face into his mask as he picked up his chopsticks. He then murmured a solemn 'itadakimasu' a heartbeat after Naruto before he dug into the plate of food that Tsunami had set in front of him a split second after he'd sat down.

Haruo would spend the rest of the meal subtly annoying Inari simply by being polite and happy while the younger boy slowly got grumpier. Kakashi sent him an exasperated look the moment he realized what Haruo was up to but the nine year old merely grinned in response. Naruto's soft, smothered snickers from beside him only buoyed Haruo's good mood and made it easier to ignore Kakashi's looks. After he finished eating, Haruo earned another scowl when he readily offered to help clear the table and wash the dishes while he waited for Tazuna to finish getting ready for the day.

Once the kitchen had been cleaned up, Haruo and Naruto headed outside to wait for Kakashi and Tazuna so they could head to the bridge. As soon as they stepped out onto the porch, the two of them shared a laugh over Inari's reactions to Haruo's subtle needling. Haruo was feeling especially smug since he'd not only gotten under the other boy's skin with the almost prank but he'd cheered up his best friend (who had been growing increasingly annoyed with a certain pair of individuals).

"Stop trying to make okaasan like you," Inari snapped as he joined them outside a minute later.

Haruo allowed the last vestiges of his mask slip off of his face as he turned around to face the eight year old and commented, "Tsunami-san looks very pretty when she smiles. If I were her son, I'd want to make her smile all the time. If she were my okaasan, I wouldn't run around being a brat and making her cry all the time."

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" Inari spat back as he fisted his hands while tears filled his eyes.

"We know that you're lucky to have an okaasan who loves you," Naruto stated quietly in a tone that was both sad and laced with suppressed annoyance. "My parent's are dead. So are Haruo's. We used to live in an orphanage until we had to move out on our own. When we go home after this, there won't be any one there to greet us at the door when we get back."

"We were lucky to have each other because no one wanted us to be friends and they kept trying to keep us apart," Haruo added as he looked away from Inari to meet Naruto's gaze. "If we'd listened to all of the bullies and stayed away from each other, then we both would have been miserable and alone instead of just bullied like we were."

When he looked back at the eight year old, Inari opened his mouth to reply only to close it and run off when the front door opened as Kakashi and Tazuna joined the two Genin on the porch. Haruo briefly wondered what the boy was going to say in reply before he refocused his attention on Kakashi as his sensei addressed the two of them.

"Naruto, go ahead and leave the usual number of clones about the house to help stand guard. Haruo, once we leave the clearing, I want you to stretch your senses out for any sign of our enemies without using the Chakra Cloud Technique; there's no need to remind them that we have a chakra sensor on the team or to needlessly waste your chakra when you've only just recovered."

"Hai, sensei," both boys obediently crowed a heartbeat before a dozen blond clones burst into existence.

Haruo watched the clones scattered for a moment before he fell into step beside Tazuna while Naruto took point and Kakashi brought up the rear. The moment they left the clearing behind, Haruo stretched out his senses as far as they would go in order to search for anyone trying to ambush them. Right away he sensed two powerful chakra signatures but he ignored them since they were from a pair of Naruto's clones that were taking up sentry in the woods. He thought he sensed Sasuke's chakra signature at the very edge of his range but the 'feeling' passed fairly quickly when whoever it was moved away from their group.

It only took them about forty-five minutes to reach the bridge and it only took them that long because they were traveling at a civilian's pace. An old civilian's pace at that. Haruo couldn't even consider it a decent warm up even if it did feel nice to stretch his legs out a bit after being cooped for so long. As they approached the end of the bridge that connected to Nami, Kakashi let out a sharp whistle; the signal they'd been trained to recognize as a wordless order to stop.

The moment Haruo glanced at their sensei over his shoulder, Kakashi asked, "Do you sense any active chakra signatures on the bridge, Haruo?"

"No, I haven't sensed anyone but us since we left the clearing."

"Did you bring those scrolls I helped you make?"

"Aa, I have them."

"Good, from here on out I want you to stick to Tazuna's side and at the first sign of trouble, I want you to use one of those scrolls to shield him like you did last time. Got it?"

"Hai!"

"Naruto, give me another dozen clones and I want them stationed up and down the bridge to watch for any one trying to sneak up on us from the water while you keep watch over Tazuna's workers."

"Okay."

Once another twelve blonds popped into being in a cloud of chakra smoke, Kakashi chivvied the group onto the bridge so that Tazuna could join his crew. Haruo half pouted when Naruto perched himself up on the roof of the mobile crane that the crew was using to shift the heavy support beams into place (since it gave him a better view of the bridge) but didn't make a big deal out of the fact that he wouldn't be able to hang out with the older boy. Instead, he stuck to Tazuna's side like glue and constantly scanned the section of bridge they were on for any sign of potential trouble.

Most of the workers eyed Haruo with nervous disbelief the moment they noticed the hitai-ate on his forehead. Haruo took their incredulous stares in stride since he knew he looked small and weak when compared to most shinobi. What surprised Haruo was the fact that it was _Tazuna_ that was sticking up for him in the face of his crew's skepticism instead of Naruto. He was pretty certain that his face was on fire from the embarrassment he felt over being called a 'super shinobi' every time Tazuna made a reference to him.

An amused Kakashi took up a lazy perch on the bridge railing halfway between Haruo and Naruto where he'd be able to watch over the entire section without having to move an inch. Haruo eyed his sensei for a moment (looking for any sign of orange; if only to give his father another target to focus his anger on when he got home) before he returned his attention to what he was supposed to be doing. In this case, it was watching over Tazuna.

It was a rather boring job.

The only thing that helped alleviate the mind-numbing task was the bits and pieces of gossip that the workers traded back and forth as they worked. Well, that and the interesting facts that Tazuna imparted about the bridge itself. A few of the facts he'd learned about the bridge was that it was a girder bridge that would span an impressive eight hundred and seventy-six meter distance once finished, that there were exactly one hundred and sixteen concrete and steel pillars (also called abutments) supporting the bridge (one pair every fifteen meters), and that it had cost Tazuna (personally) nineteen and a half million ryo in materials to build.

They'd only been on the bridge for about half an hour before Naruto loudly demanded, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei; why are you sticking around the bridge today? Aren't you supposed to be snooping about like you did all week? Or are you just sticking around because you're worried that Haruo and I will paint the bridge orange?"

"Nani…!?" Tazuna yelped in response to Naruto's comment about painting the bridge orange and Haruo snickered softly at the look of outraged dismay on the man's face.

"Ah, no; I wasn't worried that the two of you would vandalize our client's bridge if I left you here alone," Kakashi replied around a chuckle. "I felt it best that I stick around the bridge today since it has been seven days since we faced Zabuza and he's bound to have recovered from his injuries by now. So, we can expect him and his accomplice to come after Tazuna any time now."

Haruo frowned when a number of the workers closest to where he was standing began muttering under their breaths and shifting about nervously. More than a few of them also began shooting furtive glances at Tazuna; as if they were worried that the man was going to drop dead any second or that his mere presence boded ill for them. Even Tazuna had been negatively affected by Kakashi's pronouncement; the bridge builder looked more than a little green in the face and he'd broken out into a nervous sweat.

"That's why I'm here today," Haruo quietly reminded Tazuna with all of the confidence that the nine year old could muster. "At the first sign of an attack, I'll hide you away again so that no one can hurt you."

"I couldn't ask you to do that super trick again. There's no dirt on the bridge for you to use and even if there was, the last time you used that super trick, it knocked you out for days."

Haruo wrinkled his nose at the reminder of how he'd exhausted himself a week ago before he beat back his feelings of inadequacy that incident had produced and smirked at the bridge builder as he stated, "I brought more than enough dirt with me and Kakashi-sensei taught me a new trick that will keep me from passing out from chakra exhaustion again."

"Super…" Tazuna muttered halfheartedly in reply but despite his somewhat cynical opinion on Haruo's abilities, Haruo was pleased to note that he no longer looked like he was going to be sick.

_Maybe I should've had Naruto give him a proper pep talk instead of trying to do it myself,_ Haruo silently thought to himself as he continued to shadow the bridge builder when the man resumed supervising the construction of the bridge. _He's always been better at filling people with confidence than me. Me…? I'm just the perfect distraction._

Haruo let out a soft sigh in response to his internal musings before he put what he saw as his shortcomings out of his mind and returned his attention to the mission as he concentrated on spreading his senses out in order to check for any enemy shinobi trying to sneak up on them. He would have preferred to use the Chakra Cloud Technique so that he could 'search' a larger area but Kakashi-sensei had told him not to. The green-eyed Genin understood why Kakashi didn't want him to use the technique right now but that didn't mean he liked being treated like a kid.

The next three hours passed slowly as Haruo dutifully shadowed Tazuna and silently filed away the facts he learned about the bridge and the little island nation. He also kept very close tabs on the time as he eagerly anticipated the moment when he and Naruto would be finished with their guard duty so that they could train together. Naruto had grown increasingly twitchier over those three hours and every time Tazuna passed underneath the blond's perch, he would call down to Haruo and ask the time.

Kakashi, on the other hand, had stretched out on top of the rail and appeared to nap throughout those three hours. More than one of the workers had stared at the Jounin in disbelief because they thought he was suicidal for sleeping on such an uncomfortable and dangerous perch. Haruo knew his sensei was using a tiny bit of chakra to hold his perch. He also knew that Kakashi was awake because he could sense the tiny little fluctuations in Kakashi's chakra whenever he was within twenty feet of the Jounin. He figured that his sensei was just conserving his energy in case Zabuza turned up.

At the end of those three hours, Kakashi sat up and hopped down from the railing before he clapped his hands once to catch Haruo and Naruto's attention. The moment they turned in his direction, he stated, "Alright boys, I'm going to go fetch Sakura; I shouldn't be gone for more than a half an hour tops. I want the two of you to stay alert while I'm gone."

"Hai!" both boys acknowledged in unison.

Haruo then watched Kakashi stroll off in the direction of the village before he caught back up to Tazuna. Part of him felt a little nervous about him and Naruto being alone on the bridge with the threat of Zabuza hanging over their heads. The rest of him wanted to believe that nothing would happen because there had been no sign of the missing nin or his masked partner so far that morning. Haruo wasn't the only one feeling antsy in the wake of the Jounin's departure; Tazuna and his crew had grown rather antsy too.

The first twenty minutes after Kakashi had left were rather tense as everyone on the bridge waited for an attack that didn't come. After twenty minutes without an attack, everyone slowly began relaxing as it became clear that they hadn't been attacked and that it wouldn't be much longer before Kakashi returned. By the time another four minutes had passed, the civilians had forgotten their fears once more as they continued construction on the bridge. Haruo was feeling rather confident that nothing was going to happen.

There were only five minutes left until Kakashi returned when everything went to hell.

One second, Haruo had been listening to Tazuna as he argued with his foreman about some technical problem that had cropped up out of the blue and the next, he was frozen in place as a potent blast of Killing Intent flooded the entire bridge. His senses were soon flooded with the somewhat familiar chakra he recalled from the day they'd encountered Zabuza as chakra laced mist rolled in over the bridge. He probably would have stood frozen beneath the weight of the killing intent if it wasn't for Naruto popping up beside him to shake him out of it.

"Snap out of, Haruo! We gotta do something! Kakashi isn't back yet and we can't let Zabuza get the bridge builder."

"There's too many people… I can't shield them all," Haruo frantically whispered back as he tried to swallow his fear.

"We can't just tell the workers to run; he'll cut them down!"

"Kawarimi."

"Huh…?"

"_Send a bunch of clones running towards the village to distract him,_" Haruo softly explained in English as he strained his senses to try and pinpoint their enemy's location. "_At the same time, send a bunch more on the bottom of the bridge where they won't be noticed and when the reach the village, have them swap out with the workers. Can you do a switch from that far away?_"

"_Yeah, I think so, _dattebayo!"

"_Do it! I'll shield Tazuna. And leave me one clone switch with so I can help you once Tazuna is safe!_"

Naruto nodded as he brought his hands up to form the cross-seal he used to form Kage Bunshin and soon a veritable army of orange-clad clones burst into existence. Before the chakra smoke even finished dissipating, half of the clones went tearing off down the bridge with a war cry while the other half (minus one) silently slipped over the side of the bridge and raced along the underside. Haruo, in the meantime, pulled Tazuna down onto the ground beside him as he fished out one of the storage scrolls of linked seals from his utility pouch.

As soon as he had the scroll in hand, he peeled it open and held the loose parchment tightly in one hand while he flung the holder to his left as hard as he could. A thread of chakra sent into the thick paper was then used to guide the flying scroll so that it wrapped around Haruo and Tazuna in a wide circle with the seals facing outwards. A second thread of chakra then triggered a cascading explosion of dirt and grass seeds that dropped onto the bridge in a wide circle around the two of them.

As soon as the last seal expelled its contents, Haruo dropped the scroll and brought his hands together to form the snake seal as he latched onto the chakra infused dirt with his chakra and forcefully shifted it into a large dome with spikes around the bottom edge. At the same time, the seeds mixed in with the dirt sprouted and wove themselves into thick vines that held the massive construct together long enough for Haruo to use the earth pressing exercise to compact the dirt until it was hard as steel; the spikes on the bottom slicing through the concrete of the bridge to prevent the dome from being pushed off end of the bridge.

The nine year old felt a little winded afterwards but forming the new dome had been far easier than forming that first dome had been despite the fact that it was twice the size. Once he caught his breath, he used his Mokuton to grow out the grass seeds in the loose dirt that hadn't gotten caught up in the shield so that they'd have plenty of fresh air inside of the dome.

"Are you alright?" Tazuna demanded in a shaky voice as he grabbed hold of Haruo's arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that but I really wish you hadn't locked me in here like you did. I have to help the others!"

"You don't have to worry about them; Naruto is getting them out of here," Haruo corrected as he pried Tazuna's hand off of his arm. "I have to go out there to help him until Kakashi-sensei gets here though."

"You're not going to leave me alone in here, are you?"

"No. I'm going to leave a clone of mine and bring you one of Naruto's clones to protect you in case the shield breaks. I won't be going very far anyway, so you don't have to worry about me leaving you behind or anything," Haruo assured Tazuna as he ran through the hand seals necessary for him to form a wood clone. Once he reached the last seal, he called out a near silent, "Moku Bunshin no Jutsu."

Immediately afterwards, wood started growing out of Haruo's shoulder and hip to form a solid clone. It took nearly half a minute for the clone to fully materialize and the moment he felt the wood growing from his body break itself free of the clone, he dropped the seal he'd been holding as he scrambled over to the wall of the dome so he could pinpoint the clone that had stayed behind for him to switch with. Once he locked onto the clone, he quickly swapped places with it so he could help his friend.

He'd barely materialized in the clone's place before a large sword sliced through the air a bare two inches above his head at what would have been neck-high on Naruto. Letting out a soft 'eep' over the near death, Haruo dropped down into a squat and spun on his heel as Zabuza appeared out of the mist behind him. With lightning fast reflexes, Haruo whipped out a kunai and threw it at Zabuza's face from where he was crouching. The kunai struck the man before he could react to the counter-attack only for him to burst into water; Haruo had killed a water clone.

Sensing that there were at least another eight clones of Zabuza in the mist (two of them currently hounding Naruto), Haruo commandeered the water from the dispelled clone and used it to form two exploding sap clones by pouring earth natured chakra into the water until it turned sticky while forming the seals. He then had to dodge another swing of the large meat cleaver that Zabuza carried as another Zabuza appeared out of the mist while his clones dodged as well before they slipped off into the mist to target two different Zabuzas (one of them automatically rushing off to help Naruto).

Haruo spent the next minute and a half playing a deadly game of evasion as he tried to find an opening in which to destroy what he figured was another water clone due to how 'weak' it felt compared to what he remembered Zabuza and three of his clones feeling like when he'd first seen them a week ago. The moment he had a little breathing room, he used Mizu no Muchi to form a long whip of water that he tried to use to tangle up Zabuza's legs. Zabuza simply jumped over the fluid whip and swung his sword in a vertical arch aimed at Haruo's head as two small explosions rocked the bridge.

"Chikushou!" Haruo snarled as he released the useless whip and threw himself to the left; a small part of him registering the fact that there were now three fewer Zabuzas (and Narutos) on the bridge.

He was just scrambling back up onto his feet when he heard several loud clangs cut through the air as two of the Zabuzas attempted to break down his shield to get to Tazuna. Annoyed at the fact that he hadn't even noticed that he was being herded away from his client, Haruo pulled another kunai free from his utility pouch and threw himself into a forward somersault _towards_ the Zabuza that he'd been fighting in order to carry out a rather brazen (and suicidal) move. As his momentum set him rolling between Zabuza's legs, Haruo jammed the ring side of his kunai between his foot and his sandal.

He then lashed his foot out and up as his back hit the ground while he was directly under Zabuza and jammed the kunai in the rogue Kiri shinobi's crotch. Haruo was showered with water a heartbeat later when the clone he'd been fighting destabilized. Pausing, the nine year old took a second to catch his breath before he used the chakra charged water to form yet another two exploding sap clones. As soon as the two clones were fully formed, Haruo led them in a charge against the two Zabuzas that were methodically pounding away at his shield dome with their swords.

One of the clones destabilized when he was half way back to the dome (he hadn't exactly mastered them, after all) and Haruo just barely escaped getting caught in the explosion thanks to the clone making an attempt to throw itself away from the real Haruo at the last second. The force of the clone exploding so close to him still made his ears ring as he was showered with sap though. Ignoring the sticky resin that clung to his skin and clothes, Haruo continued his forward dash even as the two Zabuzas turned in his direction due the explosion catching their attention.

Haruo skidded to a stop and dropped to the ground as he felt the two Zabuzas' chakra signatures suddenly warp to his side before he even realized they had disappeared from in front of him. His second exploding sap clone went off when the swords bisected the experimental clone. The explosion forced both Zabuzas to back off while Haruo used the opening that the clone had given him to scramble on top of the dome. A brief inspection allowed him to see the damage the two Zabuzas had done to the dome and he was relieved to note that the worst of it was a few dents and scratches.

His attention was soon forced back to the two Zabuzas as one of them threw his sword at Haruo in a horizontal arc. His green eyes followed the spinning sword that was rushing straight for him as he bent his knees and sent chakra to his legs as he prepared to jump overtop of the flying death. Haruo carefully counted the rotations and waited until the last second before launched himself skyward. He was abruptly reminded of the second Zabuza that had been attacking the dome when he joined Haruo in the air and swung his sword towards the nine year old and Haruo felt his heart lodge itself in his throat when he realized he wouldn't be able to escape because he had been caught in the middle of his jump.

A split second before the sword would have cleaved him in half, Haruo felt Kakashi's familiar chakra pop up beside him and a pair of arms unexpectedly wrap around him. He was thrown away from the attacking Zabuza before he could fully register what was happening and as he spun head over heels in the air to right himself, Haruo caught a brief glimpse of Kakashi fending off Zabuza's great sword with nothing but a kunai. Haruo's attention was then drawn back to his own situation as his feet hit the bridge toes first.

The momentum from Kakashi's throw had him sliding nearly two full meters before he could slow himself to a stop by applying chakra to his feet and saved himself from falling off the unfinished end of the bridge. Haruo pressed one hand to his heart as he caught sight of the ocean at the bottom of a long drop before he refocused on the ongoing battle in front of him. A glance towards the dome revealed that those two Zabuzas had been reduced to puddles of water while Kakashi had disappeared into the mist – though Haruo could still sense his chakra nearby.

Even as he spread his senses out to search for the remaining Zabuzas, Haruo felt the last of the water clones popping out of existence until there was only one Zabuza left. He turned his attention to tracking down Naruto next and soon picked up Naruto's blazing signature off the side of the bridge where he could also sense Sakura's chakra signature and Haruo suspected that one of the Zabuzas had tried to toss his friend off the bridge. That thought actually drew a soft snarl from the little Mokuton user and he darted forward to help pull Naruto back up onto the bridge while the original Zabuza's attention was on Kakashi.

"Ho, ho; so you saw through my little diversion, did you?" Zabuza mused as the mist thinned just enough for Haruo to get a glimpse of the man locked sword to kunai with Kakashi. "I thought for certain that Haku would have been able to keep you occupied long enough for me to take out the two little runts you'd left here alone to guard the bridge builder."

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I supposed to stop and chat with your friend?" Kakashi blandly countered as he shoved his hitai-ate off of his left eye and Haruo barely suppressed the urge to giggle madly in response to the Jounin's bored reply.

"I'm sorry, Zabuza-sama," an unfamiliar voice stated as an unfamiliar person whose chakra signature Haruo had never felt before appeared out of the mist. "Our enemy tricked me with a pair of clones and slipped around me before I realized he already knew I was there."

Haruo briefly glanced towards the voice and saw a masked shinobi appear out of the mist and make an attempt to skewer Kakashi in the back of the neck with a senbon gripped in his hand. Kakashi disengaged Zabuza and jumped backwards several feet to avoid the blow and Haruo let out an inaudible sigh of relief as he picked up his pace again in order to close the distance between him and Naruto. He reached Sakura's side just in time to help her haul Naruto up onto the bridge as the clone ladder he'd made to avoid getting dropped in the ocean dispelled now that he was safe.

"Haku, can you use your mirrors to slip inside of the dome protecting our target?"

"Not without knowing exactly who or what is inside, Zabuza-sama," the newly named Haku answered as the masked shinobi glanced towards said dome. "Did you wish for me to see if I could shatter the dome with my ice?"

"No, I want you to take out the annoying little gaki that keep interfering with our task while I handle Kakashi," Zabuza replied and Haruo frowned as he glanced between the two enemies and the dome protecting Tazuna.

"_Plan B?_" Naruto asked under his breath in English as he pretended to lean heavily on Sakura and Haruo in order to make it look like his fight with Zabuza's clones had tired him out.

Haruo bite his lip and considered Naruto's suggestion (which was basically one of their standard prank plans that involved distracting the target and running away) before he shook his head no and countered with, "_Plan E._"

"What are you two talking about?" Sakura demanded in a low hiss.

"_Are you sure, Haruo?_" Naruto asked as he ignored Sakura's question and considered Haruo's suggestion (which was a classic taunt and trap routine in which one of them played bait to lure their target into a trap).

"_Yeah, we wouldn't get very far trying to drag both Tazuna and Sakura with us._"

"_Alright, I'm ready when you are._"

"Sakura-sempai, get ready to run," Haruo murmured as Naruto dropped his arms from their shoulders and limped several steps in the direction of the masked Haku while Haruo grabbed hold of Sakura's hand and began inching back towards the shield he'd built on top of Tazuna.

"Wha…?" Sakura started to ask before she was cut off by Naruto.

"Catch me if you can, mask-chan!" Naruto taunted childishly as he took off running towards the village with the masked shinobi automatically moving to follow him.

"Now!" Haruo hissed as he broke into a run and began pulling Sakura along behind him.

Haruo's lungs were practically burning by the time they reached the dome and he slowed to fast jog as he dragged Sakura behind the dome before he ordered, "Wait here a moment."

The green-eyed Genin then used a Kawarimi to switch places with Naruto's clone inside (startling both Sakura and Tazuna at the unexpectedness of the move). Haruo didn't bother to stick around long enough to reassure the bridge builder as he immediately swapped places with Sakura in order to have her both watch over the client and protect her from the masked Haku. Once back outside of the dome, Haruo dug into his utility pouch for the handful of exploding sap tags he had on him, the last of his kunai, and another one of the scrolls holding the chakra charged dirt Kakashi had prepared for him.

He shoved the tags and kunai at Naruto's clone before he scrambled up on top of the dome once more so that he could follow Naruto's fight with the masked shinobi. Behind him, Naruto's clone from earlier tied the exploding sap tags to the kunai before it cloned itself (and therefore the large supply of tagged kunai) and waited for Haruo to give them the signal to attack. While the clones hid in wait behind the dome, Haruo let his eyes search out Kakashi as he clashed with Zabuza before he searched the thinning mist for Naruto.

He found his blond friend leading the masked Haku through the stacks of remaining girders that were waiting to be slotted into place. Seeing the perfect opportunity to pin the masked shinobi in place, Haruo slid down the dome so he could sign the plan to the lead clone. Once he'd relayed his idea to the clone, the small army took off in the direction of the original while Haruo pulled out his sealing kit and unrolled the scroll of storage seals until he reached the very last seal. Once he had the seal he wanted, he very carefully negated the seal link that connected the last pair of seals.

After he finished that, he channeled a small burst of chakra into that last seal to release the dirt it held in a small pile beside him. The scroll of linked seals was then rolled back up and returned to his pouch with the sealing kit before he began making dozens of tiny steel-like marbles that were an inch in diameter out of the dirt he'd unsealed. A wry grin curled his lips upwards as it occurred to him that he was using a chakra training exercise in the middle of a battle. Haruo pushed that thought out of his mind a moment later as he focused on his task.

The moment he'd made roughly fifty marbles, Haruo stuffed them in his pocket and dug another storage scroll out of his utility pouch. A quick skim through the occupied seals soon had him unsealing a slingshot that he'd pilfered from Kakashi after Saturday training session a few weeks back. Armed with his new projectile weapon, Haruo scrambled back up onto the dome, tucked a marble in the concave holder on the slingshot, and sought out Naruto once more. An evil snicker escaped his lips when he saw the masked shinobi looking worse for wear.

The cloth covered bun he'd had his hair up in had been torn free and the shinobi's long dark brown hair was twisted and tangled up in sap. His clothes were also all twisted up and glued together in places from the sap with a number of senbon and kunai stuck to the fabric and weighing it down. It was also obvious that the sticky sap was hindering the shinobi's footwork each time he stepped in the scattered puddles of sap and water that littered the ground where he and Naruto were currently fighting.

Haruo tamped down on his amusement as he lifted the slingshot, stretched the elastic band back, and took aim at the side of Haku's covered face in the hopes that he would be able to knock the shinobi out with a blow to the temple. As soon as he had the shot lined up, he let the marble fly. He cursed under his breath when his target turned his head just in time to avoid the temple blow he'd been aiming for and the marble struck the edge of the mask instead and shattered the clay mask into a dozen shards.

Haku gasped in shock as the mask fell apart and dropped away from his face before he jumped backwards to avoid the axe kick that Naruto had aimed at his now exposed face. The fight dragged to a complete stop at that point as Naruto landed on the ground and gaped at the newly revealed shinobi.

"You're a girl!" Naruto accused loudly as he thrust his index finger in Haku's direction.

"No, I'm afraid you are mistaken; I'm a boy," Haku countered as he regained his composure.

"No way! You're too pretty to be a boy and you have long, silky hair! You're even using a girlie weapon!"

"I am not a girl," Haku practically growled in obvious annoyance.

Haruo wasn't close enough to see the shinobi's face clearly enough to add his opinion on the matter of the shinobi's gender so he decided to use Haku's distraction to take another pot shot at him (or her). This time, he channeled a bit more chakra into the marble and aimed for the crotch to test Naruto's theory; since boys tended to be more protective of that particular area than girls. He loosed the shot a split second later and watched as Haku pulled out another senbon and used it to deflect the flying projectile (the chakra in the marble bending the senbon in half before it dropped to the ground once its momentum had been fully expended).

Huh, guess he was a guy despite what Naruto thought he looked like.

"You are too much of a pest for me to ignore any longer," Haku proclaimed as he turned in Haruo's direction.

"I will not let you hurt, Haruo," Naruto snarled as he called another dozen clones into existence and attacked Haku with a vengeance alongside of his clones.

Haku jumped into the air and quickly destroyed the clones with a wide spray of senbon and sent the real Naruto scrambling for cover while he [Haku] rapidly ran through a series of hand seals as he dropped back towards the ground. He managed to finish the sequence as his feet touched down on the ground and the shinobi stamped his foot in the puddle of water and sap he'd landed in as he intoned, "Hyouton: Sensatsu Suishou."

The droplets of water that Haku had kicked up when he stamped his foot and the moisture in the air from the mist immediately condensed into hundreds of icy senbon that filled the air around the unmasked shinobi. Naruto and Haruo unintentionally cursed in stereo as they realized just where the needles were pointed. It was therefore something of a shock when the needles shot towards Haruo with a flick of Haku's hands. Haruo yelped in surprise at the sudden attack and unhesitatingly dropped down off of the dome in order to avoid the barrages of senbon.

He breathed out a sigh of relief a moment later when the senbon slammed into the dome and burst back into water that poured down the side. Haruo then pursed his lips in thought as he considered how he could protect himself from another such attack. When his eyes fell on the extra dirt sitting on the ground beside him, a grin tugged at his lips as he dropped down to plunge his hands into the loose earth. He then used the earth pressing exercise once more to form a crude shield that he could anchor to his left arm before he bravely returned to the top of the dome to make another attempt to strike Haku from afar.

His reappearance on the top of the makeshift shelter had been expected and he barely had time to bring up his new shield to protect his face and chest as a second barrage converged on his position. A few of the senbon struck his arms and legs but it was somewhat easy to ignore the sting of the small wounds as the icy senbon quickly melted when his magic briefly flared outwards in response to the pain. Haruo then retaliated by firing a dozen chakra charged marbles at Haku in rapid succession. Naruto used the distraction that Haruo had provided to set off an exploding paint tag in Haku's face to partially blind him.

His imperfect vision caused him to fail to fully protect himself from Haruo's attack and Haku was struck in the left shoulder and twice in the right thigh by the flying marbles. Haku let out a pained grunt and hopped backwards on his left leg while using his right hand to wipe the paint from his eyes. He then vanished in the blink of an eye and reappeared behind Haruo and promptly kicked Haruo off of the dome. Haruo twisted sharply in order to avoid hitting the ground head and elbow first but still hit the ground hard enough that he let out a sharp cry of pain when he jarred his knee while his shield went skittering across the ground when he lost his hold on it.

"That's it, teme! No more Mr. Nice Guy!" Naruto yelled angrily in response to Haruo's cry.

Haku jumped over Haruo's head to land between Haruo and the advancing Naruto before he called out, "Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou."

All around Haruo, the water on the ground from Haku's shattered needles and Zabuza's burst clones began rising up to form icy panels that looked much like mirrors all around him with several even forming over top of his head. It didn't take a genius to know that he was sitting duck for whatever it was that the technique was supposed to do as long as he stayed inside of the mirrored dome. Unwilling to wait around to find out what was going to happen, Haruo raced for the nearest gap as fast as he could on his lightly throbbing knee.

He was almost to the gap when Haku's image suddenly appeared on the two ice panels bordering the gap he was heading for a split second before the images unleashed a barrage of senbon that flew straight at Haruo. Skidding to a halt, Haruo danced backwards to avoid getting hit with the silver senbon since he didn't think his magic would be able to melt those ones. He then turned and fled towards another gap only to be met with another pair of Haku's images and another senbon attack.

"It is no use, little boy; no one ever escapes from this jutsu," Haku blandly announced as his image suddenly spread to ever single mirror in the dome and Haruo swallowed thickly as he tried to think of how he was going to get out of the trap he'd been caught in. "You have a few handy little tricks but you are no match for my Hyouton. Please do not try to escape again; I do not wish to be forced to kill you."

Haruo growled under his breath, dug out a handful of marbles, and loaded the slingshot before he began taking potshots at the closest mirror in an attempt to shatter it so he could get out. He felt a rock settle in his stomach when the marbles did nothing more than chip the mirror before the mirror seemingly repaired itself.

"I told you, your attempts to break free of my jutsu are futile. You can not break my ice mirrors and any damage you do to them will be repaired automatically. Just sit down and sit still and I will release you once we have finished our task."

"Like hell Haruo's going to listen to a girlie-boy like you!" Naruto snarled from just outside of the mirror dome and Haruo felt his heart rise up to choke him as Haku leaned out of the backside of the mirror and blocked Naruto's taijutsu attack before he kicked Naruto away from the dome.

"I will not allow you to help your friend. If you want me to release him, you need only hand over the bridge builder."

"Leave Naruto alone you butt-faced eunuch!" Haruo yelled as he ran straight for the nearest mirror to slap an exploding tag on it before he leaped backwards to avoid the fist filled with senbon that Haku swiped at his face.

The tag went off and the resulting explosion barely scratched the surface. Haruo was not deterred though and he started bouncing from mirror to mirror as fast as he could as he threw shuriken, unleashed every seal tag he had on hand, and basically tried to keep Haku from attacking Naruto again. He felt hope blossom in his chest when he saw the paint from his exploding paint tags marring the mirror surfaces and he targeted those around the nearest gap in the hopes he could use the blind spot to sneak through.

Haku noticed the weakness at the same time as Haruo though and countered with a flurry of senbon attacks from the ceiling before Haruo could set and activate the tags and Haruo couldn't help but cry out again as he felt the steel needles slice through his skin and muscles when he failed to dodge them all. The attacks abruptly stopped when Haruo retreated to the center of the dome and Haku cleared his mirrors of paint with a chakra pulse.

"Kuso," Haruo muttered petulantly as he reached into his utility pouch once more only to find that he was out of tags and the only potential weapon he had (aside from the slingshot and marbles) was the remaining two storage scrolls of dirt.

A calculating look formed on Haruo's face as he withdrew one of the scrolls. Attempting to release the dirt would likely prompt his enemy to attack again. At the same time, even releasing a single seal's worth of dirt would give him more than enough chakra charged dirt to work with. All he needed was the ten seconds it would for the linked seals to expel their contents.

"What ever you are planning will not succeed; this jutsu is invulnerable and the boost this jutsu gives my speed will allow me to stop you before you can complete your next attempt to escape. Please stand down. I do not want to kill you."

"Bite me!" Haruo defiantly blurted as he spun on his heel at the same time as opened the scroll and let it wrap around him with the seals outwards while channeling his chakra into the trigger seal.

Dirt exploded out of the seals as Haruo continued to spin. Close to half of the seals had successfully spewed forth their contents before Haku's senbon ripped through the remaining seals and disabled them. The damaged seals backfired and Haruo ground his teeth together as the scroll burst into flame around him and seared his hands and face while the flames only scorched his reinforced track suit. Dropping the now useless scroll, Haruo brought his seared hands together to form the snake seal as he pictured the dirt covering the mirrors in his mind while doing his best to ignore the pain.

"I will not let you finish!" Haku bellowed at the same time as the earth began surging upwards.

"Haruo!" Naruto screamed as an unending flood of senbon rained down on Haruo from all sides.

Haruo screwed his eyes closed and held the seal as he forced the dirt to move faster even as he braced himself for the expected pain of being struck by the senbon. For the second time that morning, his imminent death would be prevented by a teammate. Only, this time, instead of Kakashi stopping the attack and tossing him clear at the last second, it was Naruto who pulled him clear of the attack. Unfortunately, Naruto did so by overpowering a Kawarimi to switch places with Haruo so that he took the fatal attack in Haruo's place.

Much like Haruo had switched places with Naruto to save him from Mizuki's giant shuriken attack on that long ago December morning.

The displacement broke Haruo's concentration and the dirt he'd been shifting fell back to the ground as the nine year old stumbled in bewilderment over suddenly finding himself outside of the ice dome while Naruto screamed in pain from inside of the dome. Naruto's voice suddenly cut off a split second later and Haruo's breath hitched as the green-eyed Trueborn felt Naruto's chakra blink out of existence at the same time.

"No!" Haruo protested in a choked whisper. He then cried out a frantic, "Naruto!"

He took a single stumbling step towards the dome before he suddenly found the world pressing down on him from all sides as he was pulled through a straw. He stumbled a second time when the strange feeling vanished as suddenly as it had appeared and Haruo unexpectedly found himself standing beside Naruto's unmoving, senbon-filled form. Haruo's chin trembled and his eyes filled with tears as he dropped heavily beside his best friend and gently shook him to wake him.

"Naruto…? Naruto…!? Naruto! Wake up, Naruto!" Haruo begged brokenly as the first tear broke free to slide down his face. "Please. Wake up, please! You're not allowed to leave me. You promised!" Haruo's tears were soon pouring from his eyes so fast they blurred his vision just seconds before something inside of him snapped when Naruto didn't respond to him while a Naruto sized-hole remained in his senses.

And then he screamed, "_**NARUTO!**_"

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**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Chikushou – damn  
Hai – yes (affirmative)  
Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou – Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors  
Hyouton: Sensatsu Suishou – Death by a Thousand Flying Water Needles  
Kuso – swear word  
Mizu no Muchi – Whip of Water  
Moku Bunshin no Jutsu – wood clone Technique  
Nani – what  
Ohayou (Gozaimasu) – Good Morning (Formal)  
Okaasan/kaasan – mother

**Notes:**

Factoid – the length I used for Tazuna's bridge is the exact length of the actual Great Naruto Bridge found in Japan; though, that bridge is a suspension bridge whereas all of the images of Tazuna's bridge appear to be a girder bridge.

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**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	24. A Trueborn's Wrath

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Twenty-Four: A Trueborn's Wrath

_May 01, 1990, 9:59 AM  
Unfinished Bridge, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Kakashi had known that he'd been right about Zabuza attacking today the moment he caught the faint scent of sea salt in the trees as he was escorting Sakura to the bridge. He had instantly known that the person waiting to ambush him was either Zabuza or his masked accomplice. The scent of sea salt was pervasive and it embedded itself into a person's hair, skin, and clothes. And while it was possible that the person was a citizen of Nami (since they too smelled faintly of sea salt) the slightest taint of kunai oil corrupting the scent told him that it was a shinobi he smelled.

The fact that an ambush had been laid on the route he'd been using to travel back and forth between Tazuna's house and the bridge for the last seven days meant that the person was obviously laying in wait for him (or the bridge builder). He'd immediately deduced that the ambush was either meant to kill him off (as the largest threat) or an attempt to delay him from returning to the bridge. The idea that one of the shinobi might have attacked his youngest two students the moment he'd left had filled Kakashi with a violent mix of rage and fear.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the two boys, because he did. However, he feared they were too inexperienced to deal with anything that Zabuza could dish out if the Kirigakure no Kijin had chosen to strike at those protecting the bridge builder while his accomplice delayed or eliminated Kakashi.

With that possibility burning in the back of his mind, Kakashi had sent a pair of Doro Bunshin to distract the person waiting to ambush him while he took Sakura through a shortcut to save time. He would have preferred to send her back to the house where she'd be able to back up Sasuke in case someone attacked Tazuna's house shortly after he'd collected her but he feared that his ambusher might strike at her while she was all alone the moment he realized that Kakashi had slipped out of the trap.

There was also a small part of him that knew there was a higher chance of Haruo and Naruto watching Sakura's back than Sasuke bothering to protect someone he saw as beneath him.

Kakashi was not blind to Sasuke's faults.

It was only pure luck that he'd arrived at the bridge in time to save Haruo from imminent death via one of Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin. That little trick had earned him a shallow slice across the small of his back but the injury was more than worth Haruo's life. After he had destroyed the two clones that had been hounding Haruo, he'd sped through the last few clones in an attempt to locate the real Zabuza. As he'd taken out the clones, Kakashi had proudly noted that all of the workers had been removed from the battlefield and that Tazuna had been safely secured behind a shield.

When he finally did find Zabuza, Kakashi felt rather optimistic that they could defeat the man since his accomplice was not around but that had changed when said accomplice had turned up at that exact moment. He had been certain that his two clones would have delayed the fake Hunter Nin a little longer than that but it didn't really surprised him to learn that he had underestimated the teen's skills. Still, he figured that Naruto and Haruo could keep the teen occupied while he took care of Zabuza before lending them a hand with their opponent.

Everything had been in their favor at the start of the fight; Naruto lured the masked accomplice off while Haruo moved Sakura out of the way (hopefully he got her into the dome with Tazuna) while he played with Zabuza. Kakashi had been steadily drawing Zabuza further and further away from the others (to prevent the man from slipping away from Kakashi and potentially catching one of his cute little students off guard) and from the sounds of it, Naruto or possibly Haruo had unleashed a little bit of mayhem on their opponent.

There had been plenty of taunts and insults being swapped back and forth in between blows and Kakashi even thought he might have heard Naruto calling his opponent a girl at one point.

Kakashi had been steadily wearing Zabuza down to the point where he should be able to capture the other Jounin (no sense in wasting the treasure trove of information that was in the man's head) when he heard Naruto calling Haruo's name in a complete panic accompanied by a pair of loud cracks. Distracted by the terror that cry had held, Kakashi half turned back towards where the boys were fighting only to be forced to give his full attention back to Zabuza when the man took advantage of his brief loss of focus.

Kakashi would regret not slipping away from Zabuza in that exact instant to help the boys less than a minute later when he heard Haruo scream, "_**NARUTO!**_"

The sheer level of anguish in Haruo's voice had cut straight to Kakashi's heart and he'd Shunshined back towards the boys in a violent swirl of leaves without stopping to think about what he was doing. Zabuza followed him and the two of them would clash once more a bare two meters away from the strange dome of ice mirrors that had been formed beside Haruo's earth dome at some point. He could just barely make out piles of loose dirt pouring through the gaps between the lowest level of mirrors; a clear indication that Haruo had attempted to protect himself or Naruto and failed.

"You're fight is with me, Kakashi," Zabuza taunted as he locked his sword against Kakashi's kunai and it took all of Kakashi's strength just to prevent the taller, heavier man from pushing him backwards. "It's too late for you to worry about the little baby Genin you dragged along with you on this mission. And from the sounds of it, you have one less student to worry about now."

"Let me through!"

Zabuza's reply went unspoken as the wind carried the conversation taking place inside of the mirrored dome to their ears and Kakashi's heart broke again as he listened to what was said even as the words fanned his rage to new heights.

"Your friend must have really cared for you to switch places with you and take the attack that was meant for you," the masked shinobi, who he vaguely recalled was named Haku, intoned sadly. Kakashi could hear the faint sound of sobbing on the heels of the teen's words before it was overridden by Haku's voice once more. "If you had just listened to me when I told you to stop, then he would not have died protecting you from your foolishness."

Kakashi broke away from Zabuza and made another attempt to reach his students only to find himself blocked again.

"Get out of my way!" Kakashi snarled in a low, murderous growl as he unconsciously began drawing on the wellspring of white chakra inside of him instead of his normal chakra.

"Not a chance, Kakashi," Zabuza spat back with sadistic glee as Haruo's whimpering was heard once more.

"Is this the first time you've seen someone close to you die?" Haku asked in an almost compassionate tone.

"Call your fucking lapdog off," Kakashi snapped as he attempted to pour his lightning natured white chakra into Zabuza's sword only for the sword itself to resist.

"Not a chance!"

"Did you know him well? Is that why you cry for him?" Haku asked in that twistedly kind tone he'd been using the entire time.

"For fuck's sake you need to tell your stupid tool to stop taunting him! He's only making it worse!"

"Oh, boohoo, Kakashi; do you Konoha pussies really baby your Genin to the point where they are incapable of handling a little thing like death? Shinobi like you make me sick. The world is far better off without the likes of that little crybaby that you're trying to save."

Kakashi opened his mouth to yell at Zabuza only to snap his mouth shut when Haruo's temper was pushed passed the breaking point and he turned on his tormenter, his voice steadily growing louder as he repeated, "Urusai! _Urusai! URUSAI! __**URUSAI!**_"

A split second after Haruo's final yell, the ice mirrors began shattering outwards one right after another as several living beams of wood punched through each mirror in rapid succession. Kakashi cursed under his breath as he immediately realized that Haruo was using his Mokuton in his grief fueled rage. He briefly thanked whatever deity was listening that Haruo hadn't started throwing around his mahou as well only to curse again when the mirror fragments burst into flames before they had even hit the ground. There was no way Haruo's mahou hadn't been responsible for that!

"Call your tool off, Zabuza! Now! Before it's too late!"

"It's already too late, Kakashi; the little Senju bastard is as good as dead! Haku's mirrors will reform themselves in a matter of seconds and he will kill the brat!"

"You're a fucking idiot! How are the mirrors going to reform when the shards are _burning_!? Now call your fucking lapdog off before the bridge catches fire next!"

"Getting angry isn't going to bring your friend ba-gurk!" Haku patronizingly tried to inform the furious Trueborn at that precise moment only for the teen's words to be cut off when one of the dozen wooden beams growing from Haruo's body wrapped around his neck and cut off his air supply.

"Do I look stupid to you? The bridge is made of concrete and steel; it's not going to catch fire!" Zabuza retorted as he shifted his footing to bring his full weight down on Kakashi.

"Yeah, I'd say you look stupid right about now; considering that the flame resistant bridge you were just boasting about is starting to melt from where the flaming bit of _ice_ fell on it!" Kakashi roared in return as he leaned his head back as far as he could before he snapped it forward to headbutt Zabuza between the eyes over their clashing blades.

Stars exploded in Kakashi's eyes and he briefly thought it might have, maybe, been a terrible idea to butt heads with someone as hardheaded as Zabuza. At least he'd reinforced his skull with the white chakra that Zabuza's sword had rebuffed at the last second or he might have concussed himself with that fool stunt. On the plus side, Zabuza was far less prepared for the attack and the larger man reeled backwards with a cry of shock as his forehead was sliced open by the metal plate on Kakashi's hitai-ate.

"You fucking piece of shit!" Zabuza snarled as he wove drunkenly in place from the blow. "I'll kill you for that!"

"Leaving my ojisan alone you kami-damned ass-hat!" Haruo snarled as the nine year old slammed the slowly suffocating Haku into Zabuza and sent both man and teen tumbling ass-over-teakettle across the bridge.

Kakashi had a split second to take in the grief-maddened and hate-twisted expression on the nine year old's face before the boy disappeared with a loud crack only for him to reappear with a second crack practically right on top of Zabuza and his accomplice. The flailing beams of wood sticking out of Haruo's torso then proceeded to pummel the shit out of the no-longer-masked Haku (the ends of the beams strangely curled up like fists) while Haruo's chakra and mahou pulsed and writhed in brief visible bursts around him and tears coursed unheeded down his face.

Kakashi suspected that the only reason the teen wasn't already dead was because the blows were relatively weak and erratic due to Haruo's current emotional turmoil given what his Sharingan was seeing.

That didn't mean the teen wasn't going to be in a world of hurt if he survived the beating.

The former ANBU Captain hesitated for a brief moment at that point as he glanced between Naruto's unmoving form and the one-sided fight taking place several meters down the bridge. Cursing under his breath yet again, Kakashi raced after Haruo in the hopes that he could protect the boy from Zabuza (on the off-chance that the man recovered enough to attack him) and get him to calm down. There was also a slight chance that Haku had only placed Naruto in a death-like state and that he wasn't actually dead.

It was the mere possibility that Naruto might yet still live that gave Kakashi the incentive he needed to convince Zabuza to call off his lapdog instead of just killing both of them outright. It took Kakashi seventeen precious seconds to reach Zabuza's side and more than twice that much time to extract the Jounin from within the range of Haruo's little temper tantrum. Once they were clear of the flailing wooden fists, Kakashi fisted his hands around the sword harness buckled across Zabuza's chest before he slammed Zabuza up against the side of the abandoned crane and pinned him in place through the right shoulder with the tanto he always carried but rarely used.

Leaning close, Kakashi relaxed his hold on his aura to blast the missing nin with the full force of his Killing Intent as he hissed out, "I'm going to give you one last chance to help me set this right and so help me if you continue to obstinately get in my way, I'm going to slice you open from groin to gizzard and let my summonses feast on your dying organs while I listen to your dying screams! If you care naught for your own life, then think about your little tool's life because he's at the top of my shit list right now. And that's only if Haruo actually leaves anything for me to torment."

"What the fuck do you want from me!? It's not like Haku or I have any fucking way to control _your_ fucking Genin."

"Your idiot of a lapdog knocked off the only fucking person in the entire world that might, and I do mean _might_, have had a snowball's chance in hell of calming Haruo down. You'd better hope and pray that the fool simply put Naruto into a death-like state and that he can undo whatever the hell it was he did because if he really is dead, then we might as well bend over and kiss our asses goodbye because there'll be no stopping Konoha's most dangerous Genin without him."

"What the hell are you talking about? The Uchiha isn't even here!"

"Uchiha Sasuke is about as dangerous as a wet sock in the hand of a two-year old right now," Kakashi corrected with a sneer as he buried a kunai in Zabuza's left shoulder to prevent the other man from attacking him. "Sasuke can't hope to unlock a tenth of the potential that Naruto held… holds inside of him in the next decade, let alone the sheer _untrained _power that Haruo holds in his hands right now. So I suggest that you fucking stop stalling and tell Haku to… _Wake. Naruto. Up. __**NOW**__! …_before Haruo brings the whole fucking bridge down around our ears."

Zabuza glared at Kakashi for ten long seconds before he craned his head around and yelled, "Haku! Fix the blond!"

"H…hai, Za…Zabuza-sama," Haku's broken voice replied after a long stretch of near silence where the only sound that was heard was the sound of wood connecting with flesh.

When it didn't look like Haruo was going to willingly let Haku go, Kakashi turned his head just enough to project his voice in his student's direction while he kept both eyes on Zabuza and loudly ordered, "Haruo! Let him go! He's going to wake Naruto up."

An eerie silence fell over the bridge for a single heartbeat before a ragged sob tore through the air. On the heels of that wretched sound, Haruo's anguished voice retorted, "Naruto isn't going to wake. He's gone. I can't feel him at all. He ripped my world away and nothing will bring him back."

"Please, he's not dead. I lied to you earlier," Haku breathed painfully and Kakashi suspected the teen had at least two or three broken ribs (on top of all of the other obvious injuries). "I just have to remove the senbon to wake him up!"

"I will not let you touch my Naruto again!" Haruo snarled as the living wood still protruding from his body lunched towards the injured Haku and wrapped him up so snugly that it didn't even look like the teen could wriggle his toes, let alone breathe.

"Haruo, if I let you hold onto Zabuza while Haku heals Naruto, will you let him go? After all, Zabuza is Haku's world; isn't that right, Haku?"

Kakashi caught sight of Haruo turning in his direction from the corner of his eye and he mentally crossed his fingers in the hopes that that was a sign that Haruo was going to listen to him. His hopes were for naught though when Haruo shot him down with a curt, "No. I refuse to allow him anywhere near my Naruto."

Half the branches growing from Haruo's body then unwound themselves from Haku's body (allowing the teen just enough leeway to suck in several greedy gulps of much needed air) before they shot across the relatively short distance separating Haruo and Haku from Kakashi and his prisoner. Kakashi loosed a few choice curses as he pull his sword free from Zabuza and jumped backwards to avoid getting caught up in the living beams of wood as they caught hold of the other Jounin and roughly dragged the man back to Haruo's side. The little green-eyed Trueborn then glanced up to catch Kakashi's eye.

"Can you save my Naruto…?" Haruo begged as his jewel-toned eyes filled with more tears while Zabuza's pained curses and threats from beside his feet were completely ignored by the pre-teen.

"Yeah, I'll do what I can for him but I need you to calm down and be patient while I work because it might take me a while to wake him up," Kakashi automatically replied as he tried to recapture the usual aura of calm and lazy confidence he'd worn since turning in his ANBU mask. "Just stay there and watch our prisoners to make certain they don't die or escape." Kakashi briefly glanced at the pair tangled up in Haruo's Mokuton before he silently added, _Not that either one of them are really in any condition to do much right now; I'd be surprised if either one of them remain conscious much longer given how tightly those branches are now wrapped around their necks._

Kakashi then turned his back on Haruo and their prisoners so he could race over to Naruto's side. The first thing he did was make certain that the unnaturally still blond wasn't suffering from any serious injuries outside of the senbon wounds and pinched nerves that were holding him in his death-like state. He then very carefully began removing the dozens upon dozens of senbon that had pierced his skin and clothes; starting with those that were in the back of his neck.

It was a painstakingly slow process as he diligently used the only healing technique he knew (the crude field version of the Shousen Jutsu that was intended as a simple first-aide tool) on each puncture would to speed up the healing process and ease any pain that Naruto might feel once he regained consciousness. A small part of him was happy to note that Naruto's bulky tracksuit had prevented most of the senbon from penetrating too deeply; meaning that most of his injuries were not as severe as they could have been if he'd been wearing something thinner.

That didn't really help him wake the blond up any faster, though; since the senbon in Naruto's neck had hit him from an angle that the high, thick collar of his suit had not stopped.

Once he reached the needles that were lodged into Naruto's stomach, Kakashi carefully unzipped the blond's jacket and gingerly pulled his shirt up in order to inspect the full extent of the damage that the senbon might have done to the seal holding the Kyuubi. The last thing he needed right now was to risk that particular monster getting loose in the wake of Haruo's minor little rampage.

Speaking of which, Kakashi slipped his gaze sideways to note the little smoking craters that littered the bridge where the burning ice fragments were still melting through concrete and steel. He was going to have to do something about that lest their client throw a hissy fit about the damage that had been done to the bridge. Hopefully, most of the damage done would be both superficial and cosmetic; meaning that it would be rather easy to repair or cover up. If not, then Tazuna's debt to Konoha for falsifying the mission parameters would likely be canceled out by the structural damage Haruo had done during his little rampage.

Shaking his head, Kakashi refocused his attention on the seal marring Naruto's stomach as he started to very carefully remove those senbon piercing the area one at a time. He needed to pay attention to what he was doing; he could worry about the fallout from Haruo's loss of control later. Of course, thinking about the nine year old's loss of control immediately brought to mind Haruo's overprotective father and the temper tantrum that the Tokubetsu Jounin was going to throw when he learned that Haruo had been placed in a situation where he was pushed into revealing two of his biggest secrets in front of at least two witnesses. Witnesses that were technically Konoha's enemies no less.

Tenzou was going to kill him for bringing Haruo on this mission.

Pushing his impending death by angry-parent to the back of his mind, Kakashi once again firmly focused on the task at hand. He was interrupted in his work a split second later as a soft groan escaped Naruto's lips before a pulse of chakra slammed into Kakashi after he'd removed a single senbon sitting directly over Naruto's coils. Kakashi grunted in response to the tingly feeling of another's chakra washing over his network but otherwise ignored the chakra pulse since its only real significance was in confirming that Naruto was indeed still alive.

"Naruto!" Haruo joyously cried a mere second after the pulse had been expelled from Naruto's coils and Kakashi felt himself relax a little since Naruto's resurrection ensured that Haruo would be more likely to listen to him now.

"Stay where you are, Haruo! I'm not finished healing Naruto and you still need to watch over the prisoners. So, I need you to be patient for just a little while longer; you'll be able to hug him to death soon enough."

To Kakashi's relief, Haruo replied with a petulant, "Hai, sensei."

Once certain that Haruo wasn't about to dash over to him and leave their prisoners unattended, Kakashi resumed his work. With Naruto's chakra free and flowing through his chakra network once more (even if it was moving rather sluggishly at the moment), the work went much faster as he had to expend far less chakra to nudge the wounds into healing faster. Even better was that by the time Kakashi had moved down to work on Naruto's legs, the blond was semi-conscious and unconsciously flexing and stretching his muscles in turn as he worked his way towards full consciousness.

That basically meant that Naruto was actively speeding up his healing by increasing his circulation to improve blood flow as well as helping his chakra flow return to normal. The resiliency of the Uzumaki bloodline combined with the influx of chakra from the Kyuubi meant that Naruto would be up far sooner than anyone else placed in a death-like state would have been. So, instead of needing a week to recoup like Zabuza, Naruto would most likely be fully recovered in two or three days at most.

"Urgh… my head feels like someone used it to crack open boulders," Naruto groggily complained as Kakashi removed the last senbon from the blond's right ankle.

"That doesn't really surprise me," Kakashi quietly retorted as he made an effort to temper the sheer relief he felt over knowing that Naruto was still alive while he pulled his hitai-ate back down to cover his Sharingan once more now that he was no longer using it to help him monitor Naruto's chakra fluctuations. "Does it hurt any where else?"

"Yeah, I feel like someone used me as a punching bag."

"That should pass in a few hours."

"What happened…?" Naruto demanded as he pushed himself upright despite Kakashi's half-hearted attempt to keep him down. "I remember we were on the bridge and something happened…. We were attacked! Zabuza was here! And… and we were fighting that stupid girlie-ice user and he was going to… he tried to kill Haruo! Where's Haruo?"

"He's fine!" Kakashi firmly stated as he pulled Naruto back down onto his butt when the twelve year old attempted to stand up at the same time as Haruo called out a desperate, "Naruto!"

Naruto attempted to twist himself free of Kakashi's hold so he could bolt over to check on Haruo but the Jounin had earned his rank (and reputation) for a reason and he easily pinned the blond in place. Once Naruto stopped trying to wriggle loose, Kakashi addressed him in a low, sharp voice that demanded the boy's full attention. He was inwardly pleased when he got it.

"Stop! Before you go haring off you need to fully understand the consequences of your actions."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with the smallest of tremors making his voice crack.

"When you switched places with Haruo, you were knocked out like Zabuza had been knocked out last week and you were, for all intents and purposes, 'dead' to Haruo's senses. Your decision to personally swap out with him instead of a having a clone do so made your little shadow snap the moment he thought you were dead."

A stricken look passed over Naruto's face as he hunched down in on himself the moment he understood the implications in Kakashi's statement. Kakashi nodded once to acknowledge the boy's immediate grasp of the situation before he continued.

"Do you remember the promise you gave Haruo the day of the graduation exam back in December?"

"I promised to never leave him alone," Naruto whispered hoarsely.

"Aa, and how do you think he took your supposed 'death' as a result of your switching places with him to take a fatal blow?"

"He would have thought I was breaking my promise… but… but how's that any different that when Haruo did the same thing to save me from Mizuki!?"

"Who said it was any different? Do you remember the lecture Haruo was given in response to his attempt to sacrifice himself for you?"

"Yeah… Koneko-chan was scary."

"And did you pay any attention to the lesson in that lecture?"

"Er… kinda?"

"Care to repeat it for me?"

"Um, that, Haruo… er that we should fight smarter when protecting each other instead of leaping in front of death?"

"And what didn't you do?"

"Fight smarter…" Naruto whispered tightly. "I couldn't think. I just saw Haruo trapped in the stupid mirrors with all those senbon raining down on him and Haku-baka spouting crap about not wanting to kill him while trying to force us to hand over Tazuna. I just needed to get him out and I couldn't call up the stupid chains to grab him or bind the teme and I forgot all about using clones to help me."

"You were lucky; you have a chance to learn from your mistake this time," Kakashi gently informed the distraught blond as he reached out to run his fingers through Naruto's hair in an attempt to offer him comfort. "Don't count on either of you getting another chance to make the same mistake."

Naruto nodded before he snuck a glance in Haruo's direction before he turned back to Kakashi and bit his lip before he tentatively asked, "Ano… you said Haruo… snapped after I was knocked out. What did he do?"

"He was well on his way to destroying the bridge in his fury," Kakashi stated as he turned Naruto's head so he could see the widespread collection of smoking craters that marred the section of the bridge they were currently sitting on. "It was also rather difficult to reason with him while he was in such a state of mind and there's a chance that Haku might not survive the wounds that he inflicted on the teen. There's also the fact that Haruo openly used both of his Kekkei Genkai during his rampage."

"Koneko-chan is going to give me the stink eye before he runs me into the ground in an attempt to kill me through sheer torture disguised in the form of training!" Naruto dramatically moaned as he flopped backwards and draped an arm over his face and Kakashi nearly laughed out loud in response to his theatrics.

"I'd worry more about what Haruo is going to do to you once he gets his hands on you," Kakashi dryly commented as he rose to his feet now that he'd finished chastising the blond. His tone then grew serious as he added, "You're also going to need to keep him from losing his temper again since I'm pretty certain he's exhausted himself yet again with all the chakra and… _magic_ he was throwing about during his little fit. The two of you can expect to be on strict bed rest for at least a week, if not for the remainder of the mission."

"What…!? No! Not bed rest!" Naruto heatedly protested.

"Yes, bed rest! Your body had been completely shut down for over ten minutes and your mother's heritage is the only thing that's allowing you to move right now. Despite the boost that gives your internal healing factor, you still need to rest your body and allow it to recover naturally. Now kindly sit tight while I go secure our prisoners so that Haruo can be freed up from watch duty in order for him to confirm for himself that you are indeed still alive."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto quietly murmured in response to the reminder of his brief 'death'.

Kakashi hummed an acknowledgement before he made his way back to Haruo's side in order to slap chakra suppression seals on their two prisoners. He'd also need to secure them with something that wasn't attached to one of his students; he couldn't exactly expect Haruo to remain awake until they returned to Konoha, after all. In fact, Kakashi was pretty certain that Haruo was fairly close to passing out from chakra exhaustion any second now and the only reason why he hadn't already was because he was bound and determined to physically confirm that Naruto was alive.

Upon reaching the trio, Kakashi was more than a little surprised to find Haruo leaning over the back of Zabuza's neck with a calligraphy brush in hand instead of trying to inch his way closer to Naruto. A closer look revealed that Haruo was drawing _seals_ on Zabuza's neck and Kakashi nearly tripped over his feet when he recognized the seals as _exploding tag _seals. Correction; _linked_ exploding tag seals. Kakashi stared at his youngest student as if seeing him for the first time; he had always known that Haruo could hold a grudge but _damn_ he hadn't thought the little gaki could be that vicious!

"What are you doing, Haruo?" Kakashi inquired after he'd very carefully cleared his throat in between brush strokes in order to avoid having the seals inked around Zabuza's neck being triggered prematurely.

"Practicing my seal work, Kakashi-sensei," Haruo replied in an innocent tone that would have fooled Kakashi if he hadn't known the boy for around six years and Kakashi had to suppress his amusement when he saw a glimmer of trepidation flash through Zabuza's eyes in response to the answer. It was even harder to control his amusement when he finally realized that Haruo had slapped a blank seal tag directly over Zabuza's mouth after removing the gauze the man used to hide the lower half of his face.

"I can see that; might I ask why you decided to use Zabuza's neck as a practice surface for the seals I just started teaching you a few days ago?" Kakashi purposefully asked as he saw a sliver of fear creep into Zabuza's eyes upon hearing that Haruo was only just learning how to make the seals he was drawing.

"I needed the practice linking exploding tag seals together because I figured that setting off a series of explosions would be far cooler than just opening a bunch of storage seals in a row and Zabuza volunteered to help me right after you walked away earlier."

_Oh, now that was positively evil,_ Kakashi silently crowed as he carefully schooled his face to prevent his amusement from showing. In the interest of continuing to fuck with Zabuza's mind (the bastard deserved it after he'd been such a dick during the end of their fight), he then responded with, "I see. Is there a reason why you are working with active triggers?"

"Mmhmm; I thought it best that I practice my chakra control since I didn't get a chance to do any training today like you wanted me to do after I finished my turn guarding Tazuna-san," Haruo blithely answered as he added another line to the artwork on Zabuza's neck and Kakashi could actually see sweat forming on Zabuza's brow.

"That's rather mature of you; most kids your age would be far more interested in playing around and making messes than they would be in training. Just out of curiosity; what did you link the trigger to?"

"My chakra. I tied a single thread of chakra into the trigger seal so I can practice my chakra strings since I still can't make them longer than ten feet."

"How innovating… what happens if the thread you have tied to the seal breaks during your attempts to increase their length?"

"The trigger would activate and 'light' the fuse on the exploding tag seals and cause them all to explode in a rapid cascade of quarter-second intervals so that the explosions all occur near simultaneously."

"And the extra little marks you added at the base of the exploding tag seals?"

"Oh those…? Those are supposed to aim the explosions downwards in order to prevent his head from becoming a bloody smear when the seals are triggered. There's rumors that Zabuza-san's head is worth a lot of money and sensei-nii has been trying to teach me about investment opportunities so I figured I could use that as the start up cash I'm going to need if I'm going to have practical lessons."

It was at that point that Kakashi clued into the fact that Haruo was _pranking_ the Kirigakure no Kijin since he knew there was no such seal as that last one in existence. The fact that everything else he'd mentioned was fact and that he hadn't stuttered or hesitated over his replies only made the ruse far more believable and it was quite obvious that Zabuza had believed every word out of Haruo's mouth.

"Hmm, well do be careful; I'd hate to see you end your shinobi career before you reached your teens because you triggered a few seals prematurely and lost a few fingers as a result."

"Hai, sensei," Haruo chirped in an overly happy tone as a particularly vicious smirk curled his lips.

"Anyway, if you'll release Haku here, I'm just going to secure him with ninja wire and slap a suppression tag on him while you finish with Zabuza. That way you can take a break from watching our guests to check on Naruto now that he's awake."

The look on Haruo's face turned rather ugly as he briefly glanced at the teen in question and Kakashi almost worried that the kid wasn't going to give up the teen (_his prey_, Kakashi's subconscious mind corrected). Haruo then sucked in a shaky breath that sounded suspiciously like he was trying not to start crying again before the beams wrapped snugly around the now unconscious teen gradually loosened and retracted until Haku was free and the six wooden beams had been reabsorbed into Haruo's body.

Kakashi was inordinately proud of the green-eyed prankster for staying in control of himself (now that he'd finally regained said control) and for overcoming his desire for immediate revenge. The twenty-nine year old fondly ruffled Haruo's hair as he crouched down to collect Haku off the ground and flashed an eye-smile at his student before he stood back up.

"Have fun with your experimenting, my cute little Genin," Kakashi called over his shoulder as he carried Haku behind a stack of girders in order to remove the teen from Haruo's line of sight lest the mere sight of the fake Hunter Nin reignite Haruo's temper.

He blinked at the scattered puddles of drying sap he found in the gap between the two stacks of steel beams before he snorted at the evidence that the boys had been a little free with their prank traps during their fight. He then set Haku down and took the time to determine the extent of Haku's injuries (and remove any hidden weapons) before treating those wounds that could turn life-threatening if left untreated (such as broken ribs that could shift and puncture a lung). Once that was done, he made the teen as comfortable as he could (to avoid stressing his injuries) before securely wrapping him up in wire and slapping a chakra suppression tag on the back of his neck.

When he returned to Haruo's side to collect Zabuza roughly a half an hour later, Kakashi was more than a little surprised by Haruo's readiness to relinquish the 'tagged' Jounin. He'd half expected the nine year old to hold onto the man in order to torment him a little longer. Then again, maybe he shouldn't really be surprised since it was rather obvious that Haruo was very eager to make his way to Naruto's side. As he latched into the sword harness Zabuza wore (so he could drag the man off instead of bothering to carry him), Kakashi frowned briefly at Haruo's clumsy attempt to climb to his feet.

"Haruo, sit back down and wait right there for me. Once I finish securing Zabuza, I will return and carry you over to Naruto so you can mother him while I dismantle your latest shield dome."

Haruo pouted at him for delaying his reunion with Naruto but dutifully nodded in compliance even as he gratefully sank back down to the ground. It was at that point that Kakashi finally noticed how pasty and gray Haruo's complexion had gone and he mentally winced over Tenzou's response to learning that his son had suffered extreme chakra (and magical) exhaustion _twice_ in one mission. After one final look at Haruo, Kakashi hauled a protesting Zabuza (his words muffled by the tag on his mouth) off in the direction of the hidden Haku.

The demon still under the belief that the 'seals' on his neck would activate the moment he was more than ten feet away from Haruo. When nothing happened at the ten foot mark, Zabuza finally clued into the fact that he'd been had and his muffled protests morphed into muffled curses and threats. Or, at least, that's what Kakashi assumed based on the Killing Intent that Zabuza was trying to project.

He was just about to slip behind the stack of girders when he picked up the approaching sound of multiple footsteps coming from the direction of the village. Thinking that it was the workers returning to check on the bridge (and their bridge builder), Kakashi spun on his heel without relinquishing his hold on the fuming Zabuza. His heart immediately sank when the last of Zabuza's chakra generated mist vanished to reveal Gato leading a large army of mercenaries towards them.

Could this day get any worse..!?

Kakashi felt an urge to slam his head against the steel girders beside him when he realized that yes, yes it could.

Haruo, defenseless and utterly exhausted _**nine **_year old Haruo, was sitting out in the middle of the bridge all alone and directly in Gato's path.

_I'm going to be damn lucky if I only spend a single year in traction when Tenzou is finished with me,_ Kakashi almost wailed within his mind even as he mentally calculated the distance separating him from his youngest Genin, the time it would take for him to cross said distance, and the chances of doing so before Haruo could be harmed.

"Pathetic, Zabuza; some big-bad-demon you turned out to be," Gato taunted as he strolled to a stop less than two feet away from the barely conscious Genin huddled on the ground. "The so-called Kirigakure no Kijin defeated by a little baby tree-hugger from Konoha."

Zabuza probably would have made a witty retort at that moment but his mouth was still sort of sealed shut with a blank tag and Kakashi was not really in the mood to rip it off right that second. His attention was also solely focused on the rotten little midget that was currently looming over his cute (if troublesome) little student.

"Trees are awesome, baka!" Haruo declared as he craned his head around to glare up at Gato.

Kakashi would have palmed his face in response to Haruo taunting Gato while he was in no position to defend himself but he couldn't risk looking away from the unfolding scene lest he miss the opportunity to extract Haruo.

"What did you call me, you little shit?" Gato demanded as he reached down to fist one hand in Haruo's hair and half lifted him off of the ground while the other lifted his cane high into the air with the obvious intent of hitting the snarky Genin.

"Baka, baka, baka!" Haruo taunted as he hung limply in Gato's grip; the young Genin far too exhausted to even struggle.

"_**Let him go,**_" Naruto growled in a deeper than normal voice that was accompanied by a potent blast of potent Killing Intent made up of tainted chakra and Kakashi blanched as he immediately recognized the foul chakra as that belonging to the Kyuubi that was _supposed_ to be sealed in Naruto's gut.

All eyes swiveled in Naruto's direction and those with weak constitutions fainted, emptied their bladders (and in a few cases their bowels too), or fled the moment they caught sight of the blond shrouded in an aura of reddish-orange chakra. Kakashi nearly flinched when he noticed how Naruto's eyes had turned blood red while the whisker marks on his cheeks had thickened and his eye teeth had grown longer and sharper (like fangs). He almost didn't recognize the boisterous blond in the feral image that the demonic chakra had superimposed on the twelve year old.

When Gato didn't immediately comply with his snarled order, Naruto began walking forward with short, mincing steps that made him look even more menacing (though Kakashi knew that Naruto's less than smooth gate was mostly due to the fact that it had only been around forty-five minutes since he'd been pulled from the death-like state that Haku had put him in). The civilian thugs, half trained samurai, and lawless mercenaries that made up Gato's army didn't know that though and another dozen of the cowards peeled away from the mob and fled the scene in terror.

"_**I said, LET HIM GO!**_"

Gato stupidly refused to release his hold on Haruo's hair and actually began dragging Haruo backwards as he stumbled away from Naruto's advance. Naruto began speeding up and Kakashi frowned as he noticed that the closer Naruto got to Haruo and Gato, the less demonic his features appeared as the Kyuubi's chakra slowly began fading out of existence until it disappeared entirely the moment he got within ten feet of the pair. Kakashi just didn't know if Naruto was asserting control on the demonic chakra or if something else was affecting the Kyuubi's chakra.

Unfortunately for Gato and his thugs, Naruto's still rising anger didn't vanish with the demonic chakra and soon began pulling on something more frightening than the Kyuubi.

The air soon rang with the sound of rattling chains as Naruto's Uzumaki heritage rose to the forefront the moment that the Kyuubi's chakra had completely vanished. Those present that had heard stories about the feared Uzumaki Berserkers on the knees of their parents or grandparents let out frightened cries or fainted as a hundred chains of pure chakra burst into existence a heartbeat later. Even Zabuza issued a muffled exclamation of either shock or fear (it was kind of hard to tell which through the tag over his mouth) in response to Naruto's chains materializing.

The Killing Intent that Naruto was exuding now (all of directed at Gato), while untainted, was no less ominous than the Kyuubi's tainted Killing Intent had been for all that Naruto lacked any real training or actual knowhow when it came to utilizing the aura-based attack.

Kakashi released his hold on Zabuza's sword harness and prepared to Shunshin himself across the distance separating him from the corrupt business tycoon so that he could protect both of his Genin from the man. He blinked in surprise less than two seconds later when Gato released Haruo and dropped his cane as he reached up to clutch at his chest with both hands before he toppled over a heartbeat later. Confused and a little uncertain about what had just happened (though he had his suspicions), Kakashi performed his planned Shunshin.

As soon as he reached Gato's side, he gently checked Haruo for any new injures before he turned his attention to the unmoving business tycoon. A brief check of his vitals revealed that the man was dead and a cursory inspection turned up no sign of any wounds. It only took him another minute to confirm that Gato had just died of a heart attack. He suspected the stress of facing Naruto's Killing Intent (and the earlier demonic chakra that had leaked from the Jinchuuriki) had been too much for the man's heart to handle.

"His heart gave out on him; he's dead," Kakashi announced before he was forced to deaden his ears with chakra to preserve his hearing when the remaining thugs (those that were conscious, anyway) screamed in terror as they fled the scene upon hearing his pronouncement.

Kakashi almost felt like laughing hysterically when he realized that Gato's sudden death would be used to perpetuate the legends surrounding the Uzumaki's violent rages. That or they would claim that merely meeting the gaze of an enraged Uzumaki would kill a person. Kakashi wearily rubbed a hand over his face (nearly dislodging his mask) before he let out a tired sigh as he tried to calculate the amount of paperwork this mission was going to generate by the time it was over. He was also trying not to think of how angry the Sandaime would be with him over Naruto's heritage becoming so well known outside of Konoha.

The sound of metal shattering from behind him let Kakashi know that Naruto's chains (and anger) had dispelled and he hoped that meant that the drama was over for the day. He then reached behind him with one hand and latched onto Naruto's tracksuit so that he could pull the slightly dazed blond closer before he pushed him down beside Haruo. The two boys automatically latched onto one another in a desperate attempt to assure themselves they were both alright.

Kakashi then slowly rose back up to his full height and formed a single Kage Bunshin (that he really couldn't afford to make at the moment) to watch over the two boys while he resumed cleaning up the messes. A brief glance at Zabuza assured Kakashi that the missing nin wasn't going to cause any trouble (the other Jounin was staring at the two boys with something between fear and respect). The fact that Zabuza had been fully neutralized led him to the decision that he wasn't going to take care of everything by himself when he had two ready pairs of hands waiting inside an earthen dome that were more than capable of helping him.

Even with their help (and that of Haruo's still functioning Moku Bunshin – that he hadn't known was there until he'd communicated with those inside of the dome), it was going to be a long afternoon.

His headaches didn't end with the conclusion of the battle and subsequent face-off with Gato either. Upon returning to Tazuna's house after they had finished cleaning things up, Kakashi discovered that twelve of Gato's thugs had shown up at Tazuna's house sometime after he'd left the house to escort Sakura to the bridge. Six of them had been neutralized by Naruto's clones before the clones had been dispelled at the same time as Naruto had been put into a death-like state. The final six thugs had then gone on to attack Tsunami and Inari. Thankfully, the woman and her son were unharmed and their attackers had been captured.

Unfortunately, Sasuke had not escaped unscathed.

He wasn't quite certain of the details but from what Tsunami had told him, Sasuke had purposefully riled the thugs up by insulting them before he tried to take on all six of them at once. He'd taken down four of them before the last two cut him up with their swords. If not for Inari shooting one of them in the rear with his crossbow to distract him while his mother knocked the other one out with a rolling pin before knocking out the one Inari had injured next, then it was likely that Sasuke would've been killed.

Sasuke would, thankfully, survive his wounds thanks to the first aide Tsunami had provided.

Hopefully, the injuries he'd received and the fact that he'd lost to a pair of civilian thugs with a little samurai training would open the gaki's eyes up and show him that he wasn't as strong as he liked to think he was. It was also Kakashi's hope that the close call would teach the Uchiha some humility.

Only time would tell.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Doro Bunshin – Mud Clone  
Hai – yes  
Kirigakure no Kijin – Demon of the Mist (Zabuza)  
Mizu Bunshin – Water Clone  
Moku Bunshin – Wood Clone  
Shousen Jutsu – Mystical Hand Technique (Healing Technique)  
Urusai – shut up (rude)

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	25. In the Aftermath

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five: In the Aftermath

_May 04, 1990, 2:33 PM  
Tazuna's House, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo had been staring up at a vaguely familiar ceiling for close to ten minutes before he realized that he was awake. It took him another five minutes to determine that he ached all over. It was a familiar bone-deep, burning ache and it only took him a few seconds to recognize it as the faint after burn of chakra exhaustion. He expelled a soft sigh at that as he remembered Naruto explaining how he'd exhausted himself protecting Tazuna from the powerful missing nin that had ambushed them on the way to Tazuna's house.

A frown crept onto Haruo's face as he sensed something wrong with that thought while ignoring the slight sting the shifting of his facial muscles caused. It took him a couple of minutes to recall that he'd already recovered from the chakra exhaustion caused by shielding Tazuna and that he was supposed to be helping guard the bridge or training with Naruto. His frown only deepened (causing the stinging sensation on his face to increase) when he began to feel as if he had forgotten something important.

Haruo didn't dwell on the holes in his memory or the pain on his cheek for long as he soon became far more concerned with another, larger hole in his senses. Naruto wasn't in the room and Haruo was still too exhausted and far too achy to get up to search for him. He tried stretching his senses out but he couldn't hold his focus long enough to sense anything beyond the room. And the longer he couldn't sense his friend, the more panicked Haruo grew.

Desperately needing to find the blond, Haruo forced his aching body to roll over so he could push himself up with a grunt of pain as the pressure on his hands sent a spike of pain through his palms and made the rest of his body throb. He soon pushed the pain to the back of his mind as he lifted his chin up to search the room only to freeze when his eyes landed on the unconscious Haku. A heartbeat later, the memories that had been missing slammed back into existence with a vengeance and Haruo let out an angry hiss as he thrust one hand towards the enemy shinobi only to discover that he couldn't mold any chakra.

"Haruo, calm down," Kakashi ordered as he suddenly appeared beside Haruo, crouched down, and grabbed hold of Haruo's outstretched arm. "You're in no condition to start a fight with someone who is incapable of defending himself."

"Narto," Haruo desperately slurred as his rage filled emerald eyes remained locked on Haku's form.

"Will be back in a couple of minutes; he merely left the room to use the bathroom."

Haruo jerked and whipped his head around to stare at Kakashi as the anger in his eyes turned to desperate hope for all of one second before he shut them in pain and let out a soft hiss as his entire body protested. After a few shaky breaths, Haruo reopened his eyes and forced his body to move through the pain so that he could face the door. When Naruto didn't immediately appear, he tried to send his senses out to pinpoint Naruto's chakra but he had even less control now than he had during his earlier attempts and he could barely feel Kakashi crouching next to him.

The young Genin desperately tried to pull up enough chakra to use the Chakra Cloud Technique in order to find Naruto only for his chakra to slide through his mental fingers. Letting out a soft whine of frustration, Haruo tried to crawl towards the door in order to physically hunt down his friend, only for Kakashi to gently roll him back over onto his back and pin him to the floor with one hand on his chest. Haruo shot his sensei a betrayed look for keeping him from Naruto only to receive an exasperated snort in response.

"Enough, Haruo; you're in no condition to go chasing after Naruto. Just be patient; he'll be back before you know it and I know that you can sense him from this room without using your chakra because he's less than twenty-five feet away."

"No I can't! I can't even sense you!"

"All that tells me is that you're in even worse condition than you were a week and a half ago," Kakashi sighed as he critically eyed Haruo for a moment. "I can't say I'm really surprised though; you were out for almost four days this time and you'd pushed yourself far beyond your limits with your little temper tantrum on the bridge. Not to mention the borderline second degree burns you picked up at some point during your fight."

"I felt his chakra signature get snuffed out and the world turned dark and cold without his chakra lighting it up," Haruo hoarsely whispered as he remembered the exact moment he'd felt Naruto's chakra signature disappear from his senses.

"I can well imagine just how terrible that felt because I felt the same way when my sensei died twelve years ago. I'm still trying to recover from his loss," Kakashi quietly admitted as he shifted so that he was seated on the futon beside Haruo.

Haruo shuddered at the thought of having to go on living in a world without Naruto and immediately regretted it when the movement set everything to aching once more. He was distracted from his pain a moment later when he felt Kakashi place a cold palm on his forehead. He couldn't help but press his face closer to his sensei's hand as the coolness of Kakashi's hand felt nice and a small part of Haruo's mind finally clued into the fact that he must have a fever because he suddenly felt overheated.

"I've a nausea suppressant, a fever reducer, and a pain reliever for you but I will wait until after you've had a chance to see Naruto with your own two eyes before I make you take them. And I don't want to hear any protests; I can see just how much pain you are in right now and your temperature is rising again."

Haruo wrinkled his nose at the thought of drinking the medicine but refrained from offering up even a token protest due to Kakashi's stern order against it. He also didn't really feel up to kicking up a fuss about taking the medicine because he felt terrible.

"Now that we've established your need to exercise patience, aside from feeling like you stuck your hand in a bug-zapper while standing in a puddle of water; are there any other physical symptoms you're feeling right now?"

Haruo dully blinked at Kakashi for his poor attempt at humor (though his description of the pain that Haruo felt was rather accurate) before he frowned and directed his attention inwards to take stock of his body. Once he had finished cataloging how he felt, he passed that information onto his sensei.

"I feel weak; like you made me run the obstacle course a dozen times in a row without stopping. My chest feels tight too and I think I have a headache but I'm not sure if I do or if it's just the fever making me ache more. The skin on my face feels tight and itchy and it stings when I talk or frown. My hands hurt. And I can't mold any chakra; every time I try, it slips through my fingers like smoke."

"You shouldn't even be _thinking_ of attempting to mold any chakra," Kakashi chided in a tone thick with exasperation and Haruo would have cringed if his body wasn't in so much pain.

"I'm not… not right now," Haruo replied in a tiny voice. "I tried earlier… but…"

"It didn't work. That would be my doing; I had placed a temporary Chakra Disruption Seal on you in order to prevent you from drawing on your chakra while at the same time allowing your chakra reserves replenish themselves. I normally would not have resorted to such methods but I was concerned that there was a chance that you would disregard the risk of drawing on your chakra while in a state of extreme chakra exhaustion in the event that you woke up from your long nap disoriented and still in a state of emotional distress. Which, I might add, you did."

"Oh."

"I'll remove the seal once you've fully recovered or when it's time for us to leave Nami; whichever comes first."

Haruo wasn't exactly happy about that but he knew that there was nothing he could do to make Kakashi changed his mind about it. Not that he would have tried to get him to change his mind in the first place. He wasn't stupid. He knew how dangerous chakra exhaustion could be (his father had gone into explicit detail back in December) and pushing himself to exhaustion twice in such a short period of time was a rather stupid thing to do. Haruo hadn't actually been thinking the second time, though.

"As far as the potential headache that you have; that's probably a combination of the fever and your exhaustion at work there," Kakashi continued after he'd paused for a moment to see if Haruo had any complaints about having the disruption seal placed on him – Haruo did but he was dumb enough to voice them. "The stinging and pain you feel on your hands and face is from the burns I mentioned earlier. However, I'm not certain why your chest would feel tight; unless it was a side effect of you exhausting yourself twice over in such a short period of time. We'll need to keep an eye on that, I think."

"Okay."

Kakashi shifted the hand on Haruo's forehead up to ruffle his hair before he climbed to his feet as the bedroom opened up from the outside. Haruo let his head roll to the side so he could see who had just entered the room and he felt tears prickle at the corner of his eyes the moment he caught sight of Naruto entering the room. His breath hitched painfully as he drank in the sight of seeing a living, breathing Naruto. The blond would meet his gaze a heartbeat later and the next thing Haruo knew, he had been swept up into a painfully tight hug.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be so stupid, dattebayo!" Naruto babbled as he squeezed Haruo just a little tighter. "Please don't be mad at me! I didn't know he was going to make you think I was dead. I just didn't want to see you hurt."

"Naruto, put Haruo down so he can breathe!"

"Sorry!" Naruto gasped as Haruo suddenly found himself back on the ground and staring dazedly up at a mortified Naruto while a small part of him was vaguely disappointed that the hug was over despite the fact that it had increased the amount of pain he was in.

Ignoring his renewed pain, Haruo reached up and latched onto Naruto's jumpsuit so he could pull the older boy down beside him. He then burrowed his face against Naruto's chest as he automatically sought out the sun that was Naruto's chakra signature; turning so that his burnt left cheek was not being scratched by Naruto's clothes. He would find it a moment later and even though it felt considerably smaller than it usually did, just the fact that it was there and that he could _feel_ it was enough.

"I'll prank ya for it later," Haruo mumbled into Naruto's chest and a small smile curled his lips upwards when Naruto let out a nervous chuckle in response to his little threat.

"I hate to break up your reunion but Haruo needs to take his medicine now that he knows you're not dead."

Haruo grumbled under his breath and reluctantly peeled his face off of Naruto's chest so that he could sit up and drink the medicine. Kakashi had to help him sit back up and hold the vials as he drank them but he tried not to let that bother him since it wasn't like he could do it himself. As soon as he'd swallowed the last drop of the fever reducer, Kakashi settled him back down on the futon and pulled the covers back into place.

"You might as well crawl in there next to him, Naruto; you're still supposed to be on bed rest as well."

Haruo snickered softly when Naruto immediately began complaining about not being allowed out of bed for anything other than going to the bathroom even as the blond joined him beneath the covers. Once Naruto had stopped squirming, Haruo snuggled close to him in order to latch onto him again.

Less than two minutes later, Haruo was out like a light; his lingering exhaustion and the medicine pulling him under fairly quickly.

* * *

_May 05, 1990, 8:01 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Sirius hurriedly pulled up his trousers and buttoned them before one of the nurses could walk into his room and inform him that there was a mistake and that he'd be stuck in the hospital for at least another week. Moony could laugh all he wanted but Sirius did _not_ want to spend a single second longer than necessary in the custody of the merciless wardens they mockingly called healers… or doctors or whatever. Madam Pomfrey's reign of tyranny in the Hogwarts Infirmary was naught but a pale imitation of the ruthless dictatorship that these muggle healers ran.

Not only were every single one of the doctors more than a little touchy-feely about _every_thing (even when taking his temperature!), they were nosier than a ninety year old pureblood spinster at tea time! He'd been here for seven torturous days and seven even more torturous nights and the blasted tyrants had yet to stop asking him questions! They didn't even keep their questions limited to his health (though they did thoroughly exhaust that particular subject first before they moved onto other things)!

And don't even get him started on the breezy contraptions that they called gowns! They were skimpier than the ones that were used by the Hogwarts Infirmary!

Or the fact that the nurses had giggled and tittered as they ogled his pasty white arse through the gap in the back every time he'd gotten out of bed (not that they had allowed him out of bed all that often).

Perverts! The lot of them!

Sirius yanked on a clean shirt next and threw the so called hospital gown in Moony's face (the prick was _still_ laughing at him) before he sat down to pull on his shoes. (No, he wasn't going to bother to put his socks on first; that would _waste_ precious seconds in which he could be checking his arse out of this prison!) As soon as he had both shoes on, Sirius jumped off of the bed and strode towards the door without waiting for Remus to collect himself.

He had a godson to hunt down and hug to death.

The impatient wizard stumbled to a halt immediately outside of the door when he nearly ran over one of the masked shinobi that had brought him and Remus to Konoha. He thought the man behind the cat mask might be Harry's birth father but the man had no scent (probably masking it somehow) so Sirius couldn't be certain. It didn't help that all three of the ninjas all dressed exactly the same bar the weird masks they used to hide their faces. Sirius hated those damn things; they looked far too much like Death Eater masks for his comfort.

Shaking his head, Sirius made to step around the bloke (jerk! Didn't he know he was delaying Sirius's date with sweet, glorious freedom!?) only to freeze in place when the man addressed him.

"Black-san, please do not leave quite yet; I have been asked to escort you and your companion to the Hokage's office to meet with the Sandaime."

_Bloody hell!_ Sirius silently cursed as he tried (and failed) to suppress the urge he felt to scowl (more like pout) at the man for turning up right at that moment and preventing him from starting his search for little Harry. _Damn it, how much longer are they going to keep me from my godson!?_

"Chin up, Padfoot; we'll at least get to leave the hospital in order to meet with the Hokage," Remus declared in a not-quite-serious tone and Sirius gave the werewolf a dirty look.

"If the two of you would please follow me?" Cat-Face (Sirius really disliked that damn mask) instructed as he spun on his heel and began walking down the hallway without even bothering to make certain they were following him.

Before Sirius knew it, they were stepping into the Hokage's office and he could barely recall the journey between the hospital and the Hokage's Tower. He'd always had a rather short attention span but Azkaban had wrecked havoc on his ability to remain focused on anything for extended periods of time (amongst other things). Basically, that meant that he'd quickly loose his train of thought or get lost in his mind as soon as he grew bored. That's not to say that he couldn't remain focused, he could; it just took him a considerable amount of effort to do so except when it came to brooding.

And if he was bored, he saw no reason to actually bother trying to stay focused; which was why he didn't recall walking through the village for the past twenty minutes.

It's also why he didn't recall much of how he'd spent the last week in the hospital outside of knowing he'd been poked, prodded, interrogated, and ogled far too much.

Well, that and he'd been far too bored out of his skull to really bother paying all that much attention.

Shaking away the reminder of how painful (metaphorically speaking) the past week had been, Sirius focused on the occupants of the office he'd been led into while Cat-Face shut the door behind him. First, there was a really old bloke in a red and white robe with a large hat half hiding his wrinkly-old face sitting behind a large desk. Then there was a huge bloke in yet another annoying damn mask (this one rather flat and white with red swirls that almost looked like flames). Opposite of Swirly-Face (the new masked man), there was another tall and muscular man with long white hair tied up in a ponytail and red lines on his face. And lastly there was the blond that had rummaged in his head a week ago.

Well, Cat-Face and Moony were there too but he'd figured that was a given.

And of course, he (the great and awesome Padfoot) was present.

Well, there was also a large monkey… (or was that an ape?) dressed up like a living doll and were those clothes wearing frogs sitting on the white haired man's shoulders?

"Focus, Padfoot," Remus ordered in a low voice as he elbowed Sirius in the ribs.

"Gentlemen, allow me to present the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen," Mr. Blondie (his name had been far too long for Sirius to remember) introduced as he gestured to the hatted man behind the desk. _Say, is hatted even a word?_ Sirius silently wondered before he pushed the thought out of his mind as Mr. Blondie continued talking. "Standing behind our Hokage is Kasai, Jiraiya of the Sannin, the Monkey King; Enma of the Monkey Clan, and the elder toads, Fukasaku and Shima of the Toad Clan. Everyone, allow me to introduce you to Lupin Remus and Black Sirius."

"Is this going to take long?" Sirius asked just as soon as Mr. Blondie stopped flapping his jaws. "Cause as fun as it is to meet another old-as-dirt old man with too much power, I'd really, really like to see my godson now."

"_Sirius!_" Remus half moaned and half scolded in mortification before he palmed his face. "I apologize for my friend; he apparently no longer retains the ability to filter his mouth before he opens it."

"Oi!" Sirius protested before he was cut off by the bearded frog… wait! Since when do frogs grow hair?

"You know, Jiraiya-chan, that one rather reminds me of you," the frog slyly declared as he glanced between the man on whose shoulder he was perched and Sirius several times.

Sirius arched an eyebrow at the talking frog before he whipped his head around to scowl at Remus as he asked, "This is payback for me peeing on your shoes while I was drunk off my ass and in dog form, isn't it? I never thought you, of all the Marauders, would stoop so low as to prank me while I was still in the hospital. Damn it! Am I even getting checked out today!?"

"This isn't a prank, Sirius," Remus calmly countered even as his ears and the back of his neck began turning red with smothered amusement (or possibly embarrassment).

"That frog just talked!"

"Oi! There's absolutely no need to be rude! I'm a toad! Not a frog!" said frog protested as it folded its arms… (or were they forelegs…?) over its chest before it leveled a rather intimidating scowl in his direction.

"Frog. Toad. Same difference," Sirius blithely retorted with a wild swing of his arm. "You're still talking! And what's with the fuzz on the face!? I mean really! Everyone knows that amphibians don't have hair!"

Mr. Blondie broke into a coughing fit that was an obvious cover up for blatant laughter before he stated, "The fr… er toads are not exactly normal toads. They are a special kind of creature called a summons and their close association with humans, usually in the form of summoners, has allowed them to learn human speech. Jiraiya is the current summoner of the Toad Clan while Hokage-sama is the current summoner of the Monkey Clan. I'm rather curious as to why a speaking toad would cause you such distress; I clearly saw examples of creatures speaking in your memories, Black-san."

"Well, it's actually more magical beings that speak various human languages; though I suppose that there are also a very small number of magical creatures can be taught to speak," Remus corrected with a small frown. "However, the only reason they have that ability is because they have magic."

"It was mahou that gave birth to our clans in bygone ages," the Monkey announced and Sirius suddenly felt he was back on familiar ground once more; after all, magic granting animals the ability to grow hair and speak was far less unsettling that things like that occurring naturally. "And I must say that it is an honor to meet two fully trained Trueborn Sages such as yourselves."

"Well, that's because we are awesome," Sirius drawled as a cocky grin formed on his face while he easily ignored the exasperated snorts and groans his declaration drew from several of the individuals in the office; including Moony, the traitor.

"As amusing as this is; I requested the two of you to join me this morning so that we could discuss your citizenship applications," the Hokage stated as he pulled off the large hat he'd been wearing and set it off to one side; revealing a head full of messy white hair with a receding hairline.

Sirius suddenly recalled that he was supposed to be on his best behavior since they were trying not to get kicked out of the village before they even had a chance to see Harry. He winced at how immature he must look before he shook his head and gave the formerly hatted man a sheepish grin that drew snorts of amusement or exasperation from the two men standing behind the Hokage.

"Bonehead," Remus muttered fondly from beside Sirius.

The rest of their meeting with the Hokage would go rather smoothly as Sirius kept his mouth shut and allowed Remus to do all of the talking and once it was over, the Hokage grandly announced, "Please allow me the privilege of being the first one to officially welcome you as new citizens of Konoha, Lupin-san; Black-san."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Remus replied as he gave the man a respectful bow before he grabbed hold of Sirius's shirt and forced him to bow as well.

"If you have any questions or need any help in settling in, please do not hesitate to ask. For now, Kuma will escort you to the western lounge where you can wait for a Genin Team to escort you to the temporary accommodations that I took the liberty of having prepared for you shortly after your interview with Yamanaka-san."

"This way, gentlemen," Cat-face (who Sirius realized must be the 'Bear' person that the Hokage bloke had mentioned) instructed as he appeared behind them and opened the office door.

"Before we go… could one of you please finally tell me where I can find my godson?" Sirius inquired as he glanced at each of the foreigners in the room; though, he supposed, technically, he was the foreigner here.

"Godson? I was not aware that there was a third person traveling with you."

"He wasn't… or rather he didn't. He's been here for years. He's the reason why we came here in the first place," Sirius corrected with a frown since the man _should_ have known that already since he'd told Mr. Blondie that Harry was his reason for being here in the first place during that first interrogation.

"What is your godson's name?"

"Harry."

"Harry is actually more of a nickname," Remus interjected when the Hokage frowned in confusion (as if he hadn't recognized the name). "You would probably know him best by his full name; Haruo."

"Ah, I vaguely recall that there was mention that you were somehow related to the young lad in question but it had slipped my mind momentarily. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I'm unable to provide you with an exact location for the child; he is out of the village on a mission with his teammates at the moment."

"Mission…?" Sirius repeated in confusion.

"I'll explain it later, Padfoot," Remus stated as he grabbed Sirius's elbow.

"When will Harry be back?"

"I don't have an exact date, I'm afraid. However, I do recall that the mission his team took was expected to last for up to four weeks. And I believe they left the village back on the twentieth of last month; so, I would imagine that they will return sometime between the eleventh and the twenty-fifth of this month depending on when their mission is completed."

"You mean it could be _weeks_ before I can see my godson!?"

"Long missions and unpredictable work schedules are just two of the minor hazards that shinobi will face throughout their career," the white haired man that Sirius thought was named Jerry (or something like that) stated with a shrug that didn't even disturb the two frogs… er, magical toads that were perched on his shoulders.

"But… but what am I going to do until he gets here!?"

"I imagine that his current absence will allow you more than enough time to purchase or rent a permanent place, get properly settled in, and start learning your way around town," the Hokage pointed out as he reached for the pipe that was sitting off to one side of the desk.

Sirius let his shoulders sag and nodded in acceptance (grudging though said acceptance was) before he glumly allowed Remus to steer him out of the room. The animagus ignored everything around him as he mentally withdrew from reality while he struggled to come to grips with the fact that the world seemed to be conspiring to keep his godson from him.

At least he wasn't locked up in the hospital any longer.

* * *

_May 05, 1990, 10:52 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

"That was a rather interesting meeting," Hiruzen commented the moment the door to his office closed behind the two new citizens he'd just welcomed to his village.

"Black reminds me of a spoiled child on a sugar rush," Kasai complained and Hiruzen imagined that his old friend was scowling behind his ANBU mask.

"Part of his immaturity can be attributed to the years he spent being tortured in prison," Inoichi interjected in a slightly annoyed tone that said he was displeased with something; most likely with Black's mental state – since that was what they were discussing at the moment. "Those foul demons they allow to torment their prisoners are the most disgusting things I've ever encountered in someone's mind. They'd radiated fear and anguish far more effectively than a shinobi radiates Killing Intent and the dose of their aura I encountered had been watered down because it was just a memory of those wretched demons."

"Are you certain that his mental state will improve over time?" Hiruzen inquired as he filled his pipe with tobacco and tamped it down before he lit it with a minor katon jutsu. "From what I've read in your report, it wouldn't surprise me if his mind was permanently damaged by extended exposure to such foul creatures."

"There will undoubtedly be some permanent damage but the rest of it can be healed with time and counseling."

"That's good to know. What of the other man? Lupin? How much of an issue do you believe his 'wolf' side is going to be?"

"So long as we can keep him properly contained, I don't believe that his 'inner wolf' will be an issue at all," Inoichi replied after a moment's thought. "He's been containing that side of himself for decades and while it's possible that he might have lied about not biting or infecting another with his wolf side, I don't believe he did. I'll be able to get a clearer picture of his truthfulness and his personality when I view his memories on the new moon this month."

"I can set up one of my higher level barriers around whatever building you set up as his holding cell on the full moons," Jiraiya offered without being prompted. "I can even place a few discreet monitoring seals inside so that you can observe him while he's in his wolf form so that we'll know what to look for and what to expect if he ever manages to escape."

"Have we located a secure place for him to use yet?" Hiruzen asked with a slight frown as he clamped his teeth down on his pipe stem in response to the worry he felt over the idea of some rabid beast targeting his citizens.

"Yes, I sent a team into Training Ground Forty-Four to locate and restore one of the old safe houses that were scattered throughout the forest the same day I learned about the man's condition," Kasai answered. "I expect them to be finished securing the building within a day or two. They were also instructed to install a closed circuit surveillance network in the building for monitoring purposes."

"And throwing him in the middle of the Forest of Death should add another layer of security in the event that he does escape from the building," Inoichi pointed out. "The animals that live in the forest should be strong enough to keep the wolf occupied since they will be drawn to any trespassers wandering through their territory. And even if he manages to kill a few, it wouldn't be an issue since we regularly thin their numbers out to keep the population of the forest from getting out of hand."

"Should we worry about the denizens of the forest killing the man while he is in his wolf form?" Hiruzen wondered as he considered the various creatures that made their home in the forest. "I can't imagine that Black would be too pleased with us if his companion was killed."

"I don't believe that will be a problem; especially if Black were to spend the night of the full moon with his friend as Lupin hinted he might. While a lone wolf, no matter how strong it is, would be at risk, a wolf and a large, powerful canine would be able to handle most of the predators if they worked together. And Black's canine form is large enough to give the tigers pause now that his body is finally properly healing from the physical damage he'd sustained during his stint in prison."

"Warning the two of them about the dangers in the forest also might encourage them to take additional precautions to prevent the wolf escaping from its sanctuary," Jiraiya added thoughtfully. "They would hardly wish to risk being eaten on the off chance that the wolf does get out."

"What of the risk to those shinobi that train in the Forest of Death?" Hiruzen prompted as he considered the number of individuals and teams that frequented the dangerous forest in addition to the chances that the forest would be used as one of the three tasks of the up-coming Chuunin Exams.

"We could simply post an announcement that the forest is reserved for ANBU use during the week of the full moon each month," Kasai answered. "Jiraiya's barriers should also prevent anyone from accidentally stumbling on the safe house."

"Once we have observed Lupin's behavior on the next full moon and I've had a chance to view his memories, we should have a better idea of how much of a danger his wolf side is going to pose and whether or not his security measures and ours will be enough to negate any risk his wolf form might pose," Inoichi stated as he skimmed through the scroll of notes he'd taken out of his pocket at some point during the conversation.

"Then we can revisit the matter at the end of the month," Hiruzen replied as he exhaled a large cloud of smoke.

"Now that that's been dealt with; Ma and Pa, I'm rather curious as to why the two of you didn't go gaga over those two like you did the first time you met with the little gaki," Jiraiya stated with a frown as he addressed the two toads that were perched on his shoulders.

"Haruo-chan was not but a little tadpole when we first met him," Shima dryly reminded her summoner. "I'm certain we would have offended both adults if we'd fawned over them in the same manner."

"Both adult Trueborns also didn't project as strong of an aura as little Haruo," Fukasaku stated on the heels of his wife's response. "I don't know if that was because they were trained to restrain their aura or if it's simply because they're not as powerful as the little one, though. Or it could just be that we've grown accustomed to Haruo-chan's aura due to how much time we've spent in his presence over the past six years."

"They also lack the innocence of the little one," King Enma added with a slight frown. "They give off an air of world-weariness and it's not as enticing as the little one's playful aura."

Hiruzen hummed an acknowledgement of his summons's comment even as his thoughts remained firmly on the two newest citizens of Konoha. He was curious to know how their presence would affect the rest of the village and what kind of influence they would have on Haruo and Naruto; since those two boys were inseparable.

"Kasai, who are you going to assign to keep an eye on the pair for the next few months?" Hiruzen inquired after a couple of minutes had passed.

"Kuma's squad can deal with them," Kasai immediately answered and Hiruzen had to hold back a smile as he picked up on the thread of irritated exasperation that laced his tone.

"Oh? Are you implying that you are going to promote the young man to captain then? I know you've been putting off selecting Inu's replacement since he retired."

"Despite the many headaches that the ahou has given me over the past six years, he's more than capable of leading the others in Inu's place. The only reason I didn't promote him sooner was because I wanted to make certain his boy wasn't going to complicate things after Kuma spilled the beans about his relationship to the little troublemaker. I'll also be promoting Neko to captain and reassigning her to a new squad so I can fill the holes on Kuma's squad with a pair of new recruits that work exceptionally well together."

"Very well, I'll write up the authorization forms for you later."

"If there's nothing else you need from me sensei, I'm going to go do a little research before I leave town," Jiraiya announced with a licentious leer.

"Come see me before you leave," Kasai ordered even as Jiraiya headed for the window. "The full moon is in four days and I'd prefer to have the safe house fully secured before Lupin-san transforms on the night of the full moon."

The meeting broke up a few minutes later and Hiruzen reluctantly turned his attention back to the stack of paperwork that was waiting for his attention.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Ahou – fool  
Gaki – brat

**Notes:**

Sirius's Short Attention Span – My reason for painting Sirius as having a hard time focusing is two-fold. One reason is because his personality is heavily influenced by his animagus form and most dogs I have been around are rather playful and easily distracted bar a few of the working dogs I've met. The other reason was already stated in the chapter; the dementors affected him deeply and some of the damage they did to his psyche will be permanent.

Now, the reason why this side of Sirius was not seen in the first section that I wrote from Sirius's PoV was due to him brooding about Harry's reaction to seeing him for the first time in eight or nine years and reveling in his newfound freedom. He's also just spent a week in the hospital bored out of his mind and healing (physically) and laying the ground work for the counseling sessions he will have in the future (hence all of the questions he was complaining about).

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	26. Goodbye Wave (Mission's End)

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six: Goodbye Wave (Mission's End)

_May 08, 1990, 11:51 PM  
Tazuna's House, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Naruto absently dragged his foot back and forth through the water as he sat on the end of the dock that jutted out into the lake beside Tazuna's house. He stared at his foot and wriggled his toes in the water next before he turned his head to the side to glance at Haruo. The two of them had only just been allowed out of bed and while Naruto had pretty much fully recovered from his injuries, Haruo was not. Well, Haruo hadn't exactly been injured aside from a few scratches and the burns on his hands and face but he was still suffering from chakra exhaustion and therefore wasn't fully recovered.

He was at least physically recovered but his chakra reserves were still rather low.

It wasn't Haruo's slowly recovering chakra reserves that were weighing on Naruto's mind though. He was far more worried about the fact that Haruo wasn't acting like himself. He didn't joke. He didn't laugh at Naruto's jokes. He didn't even smile. Not only that but he had barely said two dozen words since he'd woken up the second time. And lastly, Haruo absolutely refused to let Naruto out of his sight for even a second (though that wasn't exactly something new) and insisted on maintaining physical contact whenever possible (their legs were touching at the moment).

Naruto didn't like the change in his friend even if he didn't mind the younger boy being clingy.

He also hated the fact that he had no idea how to help his friend.

Normally, he'd tell a joke or plan a prank to make his friend laugh again but jokes weren't working and Kakashi wasn't going to let him pull any pranks while they were still in the middle of a mission.

Sighing, Naruto dropped backwards so that he was lying on the wooden deck and stared up at the sky only to close his eyes a moment later because the sun was practically right overtop of him. Aside from being frustrated over his inability to cheer his friend up, Naruto was also bored out of his mind because Kakashi had told him that he wasn't allowed to train even though there was nothing wrong with him now. Not that anyone else was really allowed to train either; Haruo and the teme were both still recovering and Sakura was spending most of her time on the bridge watching over Tazuna.

He wasn't quite sure what Kakashi was doing. Their sensei would leave early each morning and not return until after supper each night ever since they had fought Zabuza and Haku on the bridge. That's not to say that they had been left unsupervised. Kakashi had summoned all eight of his ninken and left all but two of the dogs to watch over them while he took the last two with him each time he left. Buru usually stood guard over their prisoners (because he was the most intimidating) while the others all took turns watching over the four Genin, Tazuna, and Tazuna's family.

Well, technically, the other five that were left each day fought over who was going to keep an eye on Haruo.

The dogs absolutely adored Haruo and they often complained that Kakashi never let them spend enough time with the younger boy.

Today, Guruko had won that 'privilege' and the small dog was currently curled up in Haruo's lap and Bisuke was not very far; the tattooed ninken was currently on Inari duty and Inari had taken to following Naruto around like a lost puppy ever since he had learned that Naruto had killed Gato from one of the other villagers. Naruto didn't mind so long as the boy didn't pester or make fun of Haruo. Though, the blond was not quite certain what to think of the slight hero worship he saw in the boy's eyes.

Naruto also didn't know how to feel about sort of killing Gato.

It hadn't really been on purpose; he'd just been so angry at the man for threatening Haruo.

And he hadn't even touched the man!

Naruto's brooding was interrupted at that precise moment when Sakura called his and Haruo's names; her presence here a clear indication that Tazuna had come home for lunch again today. Naruto sat back up and twisted around to find his pink haired teammate carrying a tray of onigiri as she made her way across the deck to reach them.

"Tsunami-san sent me out here with lunch," Sakura needlessly announced as she sat down a short distance away from the two boys. "She sent me with enough for all of us and there's some deboned fish for Kakashi's ninken." Sakura then glanced over to where Inari's shoulder could be seen sticking out from behind one of the pillars supporting the pier to state, "There's enough here for you too, Inari."

"Thanks," Naruto murmured as he snagged two pieces of onigiri and handed one to Haruo while an embarrassed Inari (he had just been caught spying on the two boys by a _girl_)joined their little group.

The four of them ate quietly for several minutes while the two ninken scarfed down their fish in record time. Naruto thought it was kind of nice, sitting there on the dock eating onigiri in the sun; almost like a picnic with friends. Of course, it would have been far nicer if Haruo had been in a better mood but it also could have been far, far worse. Sasuke could have been there, after all. After they had sated their hunger for the most part (though Haruo had only picked at his food), Sakura broke the silence.

"Haruo, can I ask you something?" Sakura tentatively asked after watching Naruto's green eyed friend for several minutes. Haruo glanced up to briefly meet her gaze before he shrugged his shoulders in response. Sakura took the non-answer as an affirmative reply as she then asked, "Why did you put me inside of the dome with Tazuna and your clone? Was it because you think I'm weak?"

Haruo shook his head no.

"Then why did you do it?" Sakura demanded with a slight frown.

"You only speak Japanese, sempai," Haruo grudgingly answered in a near whisper. "Naruto and I don't. You also haven't learned any of the sign codes we use. So, we had no way of communicating the plan we'd come up with to you without the risk of our enemies overhearing us. It also would've taken too long to explain things to you and we'd have lost what little advantage we had. I also figured that you were the best one to guard Tazuna in case my clone was killed since you were still fresh while Naruto and I had been fighting for almost five minutes before you got there."

"Oh, I thought you just wanted me out of the way."

"Nah," Naruto countered in Haruo's place. "You don't really get the in the way at all any more; not like the teme."

Sakura let out a soft snort before she offered Naruto a small smile in response to his comment.

"How come you guys are so strong?" Inari inquired as he frowned at them. "I mean, you're still kids like me." The eight year old then jabbed a finger in Haruo's direction as he added, "And you're my age!"

"No, I'm not," Haruo corrected with a slight frown. "I'm only a little younger than Naruto and mostly just short."

"Haruo's eleven," Sakura added as she glanced between Inari and Haruo a few times. "But he does look like he's closer to your age. He's probably just a late bloomer."

"And we're strong because we train," Naruto offered in order to draw everyone's attention away from Haruo's age since his friend technically was only a year older than Inari but no one was supposed to really know that.

"But that other boy, Sasuke, he trained all the time too. I even saw him sneak out of the house at night to train but two of Gato's thugs that tried to take my mom almost killed him. Shouldn't he be stronger than you three because he trains more? I mean, Haruo hasn't really done any training since he got here!"

"That's because Haruo couldn't do any serious training while he was recovering from chakra exhaustion," Sakura explained patiently. "Haruo took a big risk when he made that shield to protect your grandfather because that technique was far too powerful for him to use but he did it anyway to save Tazuna-san."

"It isn't training that makes a person strong anyway," Haruo interjected as he sneakily slipped his uneaten half of onigiri to Guruko when he thought Naruto wasn't watching. "Well, training helps. So does knowing a lot of strong jutsu. But one person fighting all alone is never as strong as two people who fight together. Naruto and I always fight together as a team. That's what makes us strong. Without each other, we would be far weaker. Without Naruto, I would be nothing."

"You mean sorta like how I shot that one bandit in the butt while okaasan bashed him on the head with her favorite rolling pin?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed with a small smile as he imagined the kid shooting the bad guy in the butt with an arrow. "That's exactly what Haruo meant." His words drew a smile and a pleased blush from the younger boy.

"Hey, Haruo, why do you keep calling me sempai?" Sakura asked several minutes later with a slight frown.

"Why shouldn't he? You're old than him," Naruto answered when Haruo just shrugged in response to the question.

"It's just weird," Sakura murmured as she too shrugged her shoulders. "No one's ever called me that before. We were also in the same classes at the Academy so it's kind of strange for him to call me his sempai. That's especially true when you consider the fact that he's actually better than me at some… well, many things."

"Yeah, but you've also gotten much better than you were back at the Academy," Naruto pointed out.

Sakura gave him a beaming smile in response to the praise and Naruto blushed a bit. He wasn't quite used to pretty girls smiling at him like that. They usually just smiled at Haruo like that. He glanced sideways at Haruo, half expecting his friend to be smirking at him because he was blushing over Sakura's smile but Haruo wasn't even paying attention; his green eyes staring out over the lake they were sitting next two.

Naruto sighed a moment later as it became obvious that Haruo hadn't suddenly bounced back to his normal happy self even if he'd spoken more in the last ten minutes than he had over the last three days.

* * *

_May 09, 1990, 7:31 PM (Moon Rise)  
Central Tower, Training Ground 44, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Jiraiya winced as he watched Lupin-san's body snapping and twisting as it changed from human to wolf and listened to the man's pained howls and cries. The transformation was no where near as smooth or as painless as Black-san's earlier transformation into a large dog. If the spy master hadn't already known what was happening, he would have sworn that someone was torturing the Trueborn. Actually, he was pretty certain that it was torture. It certainly looked and sounded like torture.

It was almost enough to make Jiraiya regret sticking around to observe the phenomenon.

Thankfully, the transformation was over relatively quickly and Jiraiya leaned closer to the monitor to observe the wolf-like creature that was now sprawled on the floor in the safe house that had been secured for Lupin-san.

At first glance, the creature _looked_ like a normal wolf but the moment you looked closer, it became obvious that there were several differences. Those differences included the fact that the werewolf was far taller than a normal wolf, slender to the point of looking emaciated, had a shorter snout that was wider than a true wolf's snout, and was rather sparsely furred. The creature looked sickly, for lack of a better description; like it had picked up a serious case of mange.

Jiraiya had to admit that the werewolf looked nothing like he had expected it to. He had actually imagined that such a creature would look like a more feral version of the Inuzuka's Shikyaku no Jutsu with more hair; basically a humanoid form with animalistic features. Of course, that assumption had been based upon fictional depictions of a werewolf from books and movies. So, it wasn't really surprising that his expectations hadn't been fulfilled.

Shaking off the tangent that his thoughts had turned down, the fifty-year old shinobi returned his attention to the monitor in time to see the large black dog that he knew was Black-san prod the newly transformed wolf with his nose. The wolf's reaction to having his personal space invaded was immediate and violent as it sprang up off of the floor to attack the dog with unnatural strength and speed. Jiraiya twitched as he suppressed the desire to go save the dog that looked like it was about to be killed by the werewolf.

"I thought Inoichi's report said that Lupin's wolf form would ignore Black while he was in his dog form," Jiraiya commented out loud as he frowned at the vicious fight taking place on screen.

"Lupin did warn us that the wolf would be confused at waking up in an unfamiliar place and angry at his companion due to the events that happened around the night that Haruo was orphaned when he locked himself and Black in the modified safe house," Kuma pointed out with a voice that practically dripped with discomfort.

Jiraiya hummed an acknowledgement before he refocused his attention on the fight just in time to see the dog slam the wolf into a wall to dislodge the feral creature from its back. The wolf staggered from the force of the impact and shook itself out before it sat down and let out a long, mournful howl. The dog's voice soon joined the wolf's voice and Jiraiya felt a shiver walk up his spine in response to the palpable grief he could hear in the duet. Silence fell over the room a moment later and the two beasts began nosing one another before the dog instigated a game of tag with the wolf.

The Gama Sennin was a little surprised that the fight had ended as abruptly as it had started and that there hadn't been a clear winner. He was also a little concerned about the injuries that the two Trueborns had inflicted upon each other. At least they didn't appear to be in immediate danger of bleeding to death; their wounds shallow enough that they'd already stopped bleeding. Then again, it was possible that their mahou had sped up the healing process.

After another minute of watching the dog and wolf play, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel rather amused that the two animals were acting like children. _Dangerous children_, Jiraiya silently amended as he recalled the short but vicious fight between the transformed pair. He then made a mental note to reinforce the barriers around the small safe house once the moon had set and Lupin had returned to his human form; he did _not_ want to face the werewolf in a fight on the off chance that it ever got out.

Nor did he ever wish to face his sensei's wrath should his barrier allow the vicious counterpart to the mild-mannered Trueborn ever escape its cage.

Despite what others might think, he was _not_ suicidal.

And the Sandaime would kill him if the failure of his barriers allowed the werewolf to harm one of his shinobi or one of the village's citizens.

Growing bored with the view on the monitor, Jiraiya let his thoughts drift to the report he'd received from one of his contacts in Cha no Kuni earlier that day. According to the old merchant, Gato Senshu had recently been assassinated and the army of mercenaries that he had commanded had been permanently disbanded. A frown worked its way onto his face as he tried to recall where Gato's most recent base had been located and who might have had the power or money to get to the ruthless businessman.

Gato had been amassing power (and money) for close to four decades now and the immoral tyrant had easily avoided numerous assassination attempts in the past. In fact, half of the assassinations the man was rumored to have financed were suspected to be retaliatory attacks on those enemies that had tried to off him first. He had also earned the loyalty of close to a dozen hard core mercenaries that obeyed him without question and his bodyguards were extra diligent in protecting their boss.

Jiraiya didn't know how a man as slimy as Gato had managed to buy loyalty like that but knew it had to be something better than cash since mercenaries were well known to switch loyalties at the drop of a ryo. Money alone wasn't enough to keep men like that chained to a man they didn't respect. It was possible that the mercs had feared their employer but that still wouldn't be enough to keep them loyal. In fact, fear had a greater chance of instigating betrayal than it did of inspiring loyalty.

The only other depraved person that Jiraiya knew who could inspire such blind loyalty in his followers was his former teammate; Orochimaru. As deranged and sadistic as the traitor was, Jiraiya would be the first to admit that the snake summoner could be charismatic when the mood struck him and he inspired absolute loyalty in his subordinates. The man also inspired fear in his enemies; most of it on reputation alone.

Gato's death would undoubtedly impact Gato Corporation's various business dealings on both sides of the law; though it was hard to say whether that impact would be good or bad for Konoha. It would really depend on who stepped into fill the void left by Gato and which country ended up taking control of Gato's empire. Jiraiya felt rather ill when he considered the possibility of someone like Orochimaru getting their hands on Gato's vast wealth. That wasn't even touching on how much damage could be done if one of the hidden villages picked up the reins.

Jiraiya's frown deepened as he recalled the vague hints he'd gathered over the years that Orochimaru regularly did business with the shadier side of Gato Corporation. The rumors indicated Orochimaru dabbled in the Flesh Trade. While Orochimaru had no interest in slaves he was fascinated with human experimentation. So the idea that Orochimaru bought those people that Gato wanted or needed to disappear wasn't exactly farfetched. And since so few people survived the teme's experiments, Gato wouldn't have to worry about anyone being found once they'd been sold.

Jiraiya had been trying to confirm the rumors for years but all of the leads he'd dug up always led to dead ends; quite literally 'dead' ends around sixty-eight percent of the time.

He dropped that line of thought a moment later as he instead focused on the important issue; the fallout from Gato's death. He was going to have to figure out which contacts he needed to get in touch with in order to get more information on the circumstances surrounding Gato's death. He needed to find out where the despot was at the time of death and who was ultimately responsible for said death. Knowing the motive behind the assassination would be nice too but ultimately unimportant.

An irritated scowl soon pulled the corners of Jiraiya's mouth down as he realized he was going to have to put off the toads for a little while longer in order to look into the mess. When he had summoned Ma and Pa for the interview with the two adult Trueborns four days earlier, they had informed him that one of the prophecies surrounding the little Trueborn had been fulfilled recently and that Gamamaru (the Great Toad Sage) wished to speak with him on the matter at his earliest convenience. He would have traveled to Mt. Myouboku immediately after the meeting but Kasai had asked him to stick around to set up the barriers for the werewolf's full moon sanctuary.

And that had inevitably meant sticking around long enough to ensure that the barriers would hold in the event that Lupin's security measures proved insufficient.

Most people would think that popping off to the toads' home wouldn't take long but due to the fact that time flowed differently in the Summoning World, a quick hour long trip could take anywhere from one to five days depending on the time of day, position of the stars, and the method used to travel there. The very first time he'd that ended up in Mt. Myouboku, he'd spent what he'd thought was a mere day and a half with the toads before earning the right to sign their contract only to learn that he'd been gone a full ten days instead!

His sensei had not been impressed. Well, he had been rather impressed with the fact that Jiraiya had earned the right to summon the toads but he'd been far from impressed with his brief disappearance.

So, no, he couldn't just nip on over to Mt. Myouboku for an hour long chat and come right back.

All that meant was that he was going to have to look into the Gato mess before he went to talk to the toads though; since gathering information regarding the fate of Gato Corp and Gato's vast wealth was imperative to the safety of Konoha.

"Chikushou, I need a drink and the soothing view of boobs," Jiraiya muttered as he climbed to his feet and headed for the door. "I'll be back in a few hours, gaki; try not to let anything go wrong while I'm gone."

All he received in reply was a huff of exasperation and an eye roll.

* * *

_May 10, 1990, 8:13 AM  
Tazuna's House, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo tried not to squirm as Kakashi pulled the back of his jumpsuit jacket and his undershirt up so that he could remove the disruption seal he'd placed on Haruo while he was unconscious. The moment Kakashi peeled the tag away from his skin, Haruo felt the world around him snap back into clarity and he barely held back tears of sheer joy when Naruto's chakra signature lit up his senses for the first time since he'd regained consciousness after facing Zabuza and the creep that had tried to take Naruto away from him.

Closing his eyes, Haruo simply basked in the feeling of finally being whole once more.

He hadn't realized just how disconnected he'd felt from the world until Kakashi had removed the seal tag disrupting his chakra network. It was like he'd been trapped inside of a thick-walled glass jar; he had been able to see outside of the jar but everything he saw had been washed out and slightly distorted while he hadn't been able to feel anything. Now that he was no longer trapped inside the 'jar' he could actually 'see' and 'feel' everything clearly.

The nine year old wriggled like a worm on a hook once he'd finished cataloging everything he could finally sense around him so that he could escape the Jounin's hold in order to pull his shirt and jacket back down into place. He then flashed a relieved grin at Naruto before he spun around to face Kakashi to see if their sensei had any new orders for him.

"Well, someone's in a good mood today," Kakashi observed as he inspected Haruo with both eyes before he covered his Sharingan once more.

"Everything finally feels right and I can sense Naruto again now without having to touch him."

"Hmm, that's rather interesting," Kakashi mused thoughtfully.

"Are you going to let us do any training now?" Naruto demanded before Haruo could ask Kakashi what he meant.

"Yes, I suppose the two of you can do a little light training. You're to keep it simple though; nothing beyond a little stretching, taijutsu katas, and meditation. That means no sparring, no calisthenics, no chakra exercises, no ninjutsu, and no rough housing. And it especially means no clones! I don't want either of you to push yourselves until a medic has had a chance to give you a once over to make certain there aren't any lingering issues."

Naruto pouted for all of one second over the restrictions while Haruo dutifully nodded in acceptance. Haruo personally didn't mind having his training limited at the moment. Now that the initial rush of having the chakra disruption seal removed had worn off, he was feeling somewhat stiff and groggy; as if he'd slept outside in the cold all night in an awkward position.

"Naruto, I fully expect you to keep an eye on Haruo and keep him from tiring himself out," Kakashi instructed before he crossed the room to check on Sasuke's injuries.

"Hai, sensei," Naruto readily replied and this time Haruo pouted at their sensei for ordering Naruto to basically babysit him but Kakashi easily ignored him.

The two of them left the guestroom without a backwards glance at that point; they had no interest in sticking around to get an update on Sasuke's condition. There was also training to look forward to. And while Haruo wasn't all that eager to jump straight back into things, he knew that Naruto had been slowly going crazy from the training ban that Kakashi had placed the two of them under and so was extra eager to finally be allowed to do _something_ other than 'sit around and rest'. So, he'd quietly allowed Naruto to drag him along and put forth the effort to train for Naruto's sake.

Besides, training alongside Naruto was usually fun; even if they weren't doing much of anything.

* * *

_May 14, 1990, 9:31 AM  
Tazuna's House, Nami no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Sasuke scowled darkly as he watched Kakashi secure their injured prisoner (who had only regained consciousness the previous evening) to the back of his largest ninken before he slid his gaze to where their other prisoner was observing the process with glittering dark eyes. The scowl morphed into a sneer of disgust when he slide his gaze further left to land on the dead weight that was holding him back; his three so called teammates. He refused to believe that the three of them played any part in capturing Zabuza or his accomplice.

There was no way any one of them could have faced the stronger two shinobi and lived to tell the tale. Not when he, the strongest Genin of their generation and the most recent Rookie of the Year, hadn't been able to land a single hit on Zabuza the first time they'd faced the missing nin. He completely ignored the fact that the crybaby and the dead last have been out-performing him since the day they were placed on the same team. He also chose to forget the little tantrums he'd had over the fact that he could never seem to catch up to them.

He'd recently come to the conclusion that it wasn't that the two losers were stronger; it was that everyone was holding him [Sasuke] back.

Sasuke pressed his lips together until they all but disappeared as he let his gaze return to the injured prisoner. Despite the bruises that marred the teen's face, Sasuke had easily recognized the older _boy_ as the civilian _girl_ that he'd encountered in the forest over two weeks ago. Anger bubbled up in his stomach over the memory of how easily the _boy_ had fooled him just by simply dressing up as a girl.

His anger soon turned to dark satisfaction as it occurred to him that the fact that the girl-turned-boy had been captured vindicated Sasuke's firm belief that hate and anger made one stronger because the teen who had stupidly claimed that 'precious bonds' was what made a person strong had been defeated. It never occurred to him that the only reason why Haku had been defeated was because of the bond that Haruo and Naruto shared.

Turning away from the scene in front of him, Sasuke pressed his left hand to his lower abdomen as the half-healed gash there throbbed with pain due to the way he'd moved when he turned. His right arm was currently trussed up in a sling to keep him from jarring the injured arm; he'd nearly had the arm cut off at the elbow when he'd reflexively thrown it up to block the sword swipe that would have potentially removed his head. The only reason why he hadn't lost the arm completely was because he'd been wearing Itachi's old arm guards under the arm warmers he wore.

There was a reason why Itachi had stopped using those particular arm guards long before he'd massacred the clan though; and that was because they had grown brittle from repeated exposure to large amount of chakra. The guard on his right arm had cracked the moment the sword he'd blocked had impacted the guard, allowing the sharp but poorly cared for blade to bite deeply into the bone less than an inch below the elbow. The pain of the sword biting into the bone had distracted him just enough that the other thug had managed to slice him across his lower stomach and he was damn lucky that the sword hadn't cut deep enough to slice open his intestines or he'd be dead.

The most galling part about the injuries he'd received, aside from the fact that it had been a pair of what he saw as weak civilians with the paltry training of a samurai that had injured him, was that he'd been saved from certain death by the annoyingly loud crybaby civilian and his mother.

He was an Uchiha, damn it, he wasn't supposed to _need_ saving!

And to add insult to injury, Kakashi had grounded Sasuke and locked him up in the guestroom with the dead last, the crybaby, and the injured prisoner that had duped him. He'd also been forced to remain on bed rest until two nights ago; the self-titled avenger intentionally overlooking the fact that he'd been seriously injured. Even once he'd been allowed out of bed, Sasuke hadn't been allowed to train. Or do much of anything but sit and rest. He couldn't even sneak off to do a bit of training anyway because Kakashi had set one of his stupid dogs to babysit him.

It was humiliating to find out that his sensei didn't think him important enough to personally watch over him.

No, he had sent a dog to do it.

This time, Sasuke conveniently ignored the fact that Kakashi's dogs were highly trained summonses and that he'd left them to stand guard over all four of the Genin, their prisoners, and their client's family. He had also disregarded the fact that they'd been in the middle of a mission at the time and that Kakashi couldn't just drop everything to nurse him back to health. That was on top of the moody pre-teen forgetting that he still might have lost half of his right arm if not for Tsunami's initial first aide and Kakashi's field medic training (or that he [Kakashi] had nearly exhausted himself to save Sasuke's arm).

One could almost say that Sasuke was wearing permanent blinders when it came to certain aspects of his life.

About the only good thing to come out of that mess was the fact that Sasuke had unlocked his Sharingan when he'd blocked the sword that had been trying to take his head off. He hadn't actually told anyone about that though. He himself hadn't even known it until he'd seen them in the mirror (he'd been snarling at his reflection at the time) when he'd gone to take a shower two days earlier after he'd finally been allowed out of bed. In his mind, there was no reason for him to tell anyone about his new eyes. He could easily train them on his own once they returned to Konoha and his clan archives.

There was no need for him to even bother asking Kakashi for help.

The man might have a Sharingan but it was obviously a stolen eye. If it wasn't, then he'd have two Sharingan and he'd not have to hide it from the world. The fact that he did hide that lone Sharingan meant that he was trying to hide the theft in Sasuke's mind. He'd have to check the archives to see if his father and the rest of the clan had known about Kakashi's theft and why they'd allowed it to stand. He also didn't discount the possibility that Kakashi had stolen the eye from the dead after Itachi had killed everyone.

A brief burning itch in his eyes immediately followed by his vision morphing into gray-scale let Sasuke know that he'd unintentionally activated his Sharingan and he hastily cut off the chakra flowing to his eyes to prevent anyone else from noticing.

_The sooner we leave this blasted island, the happier I will be,_ Sasuke silently growled to himself as he dropped his hand away from his stomach once his vision had returned to normal. As far as he was concerned, this mission had dragged on for far too long and they should have left the minute Gato had been declared dead instead of waiting for the drunkard that called himself a bridge builder to finish building his bridge. Once again he completely overlooked the fact that he, two of his teammates, and one of their prisoners had been injured.

"Alright, my cute little students; does everyone have all of their things?" Kakashi asked as he clapped his hands together and made that stupid face of his that made it look like his eye was smiling. Sasuke hated that look; it always made him feel as if Kakashi was mocking him. "Because I'll tell you right now, I'm not turning around just so you can come back and grab something you left behind."

Sasuke ignored the question; he didn't need any one to tell him how to pack his things or hold his hand like a baby. In his mind, the question and the veiled threat had been spoken for the sake of his teammates and not him. The fact that all three of them answered the Jounin only solidified that impression in his mind.

"Hai, sensei!"

"In that case, I believe it's time for us to get moving if we hope to cover a respectable distance before supper time."

"Finally," Sasuke muttered under his breath as he headed for the road that led towards the main village on Nami and the bridge that now connected Nami no Kuni to Hi no Kuni.

The lone Uchiha was rather pleased when Kakashi didn't bother ordering them into a team formation as they made their way towards the newly completed bridge. He hated being ordered around. Uchihas were meant to lead because they were the best and following someone else's orders, even those of a Jounin, chaffed.

The thought that it was his birthright to stand above no-name orphans the likes of Naruto and Haruo buoyed the injured Uchiha's mood as they made their way into town. By the time they reached the bridge though, Sasuke felt like his stomach had just been sliced open instead of half healed like it was. His abdomen burned and throbbed in turns and it was only his stubborn pride that prevented him from walking half hunched over to lesson the pain. He was startled a moment later when Kakashi unexpectedly popped up in front of him and thrust a vial of liquid pain reliever in his face.

"Drink," Kakashi instructed as he wriggled the vial back and forth in front of Sasuke's face. "And before you think to protest how you aren't in any pain, I will give you a choice; either drink the medicine to relieve the pain or I will tie you to Buru alongside of our injured prisoner. You will also sit down and rest for the next half hour while I tie up a few loose ends because if you tear the stitches out, you will be carried to Konoha. I would also advise you to reinforce the muscles around the gash with chakra once we start moving to prevent your movements from tearing that gash open again."

Sasuke grunted in reply, grudgingly accepted the vial of medicine, and downed the contents when Kakashi gave him a pointed look before he glanced at the vial and remained where he was until Sasuke had emptied the vial. Once he'd stopped gagging over the taste of the liquid pain reliever (damn baby medicine), Sasuke took a seat on a pile of crates stacked off to one side of the bridge to rest. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips when he immediately felt his pain lesson the moment he was off his feet and his stomach muscles were no longer being stretched taut by his posture.

As he waited for the pain killer to kick in and blunt the rest of the pain he felt, Sasuke let his gaze slip towards where his teammates were chatting with the bridge builder's grandson and a gaggle of dirty village children. His lips curled up in a sneer as he watched the crybaby acting like a little kid around the other children. If not for the hitai-ate wrapped around the crybaby's head, it would be easy to mistake the boy as one of the village urchins. Sasuke couldn't help but think that the little brat was a disgrace to shinobi everywhere with how much like a baby he acted all the time.

Unable to stand the sickening display in front of him, Sasuke tore his gaze away from the _children_ and glanced out over the ocean. He clenched his jaw and fisted his hands reflexively as he ignored the view and focused instead on the power he needed to defeat Itachi. No, not just defeat the kinslayer; he needed the power to utterly destroy him. This mission had only driven home the fact that he was still far too weak. He'd never catch up to Itachi at this rate; let alone surpass him.

Sasuke had no idea how long he'd been sitting there glaring out over the ocean before he heard Kakashi's voice calling out, "Let's shake a leg, my cute little students! It's time for us to say goodbye to Nami."

Sasuke gingerly abandoned his perch (part of him pleased to note that the pain reliever was working) even as he sent a flood of chakra to support his stomach muscles and began making his way to the bridge where the rest of his team was marching off without him. He'd just stepped onto the bridge when he overheard part of a conversation between a group of villagers that included Tazuna and his grandson that would set his blood to boiling.

"So, have you come up with a name for your bridge yet, Tazuna?"

"I always wanted to call it The Great Tazuna's Super Bridge."

"That's a terrible name!" several individuals all hollered at the same time.

"Well, what would you name it then?" Tazuna demanded in a tone thick with injured pride.

"I'd name it after Uzumaki Naruto!" Inari blurted out and Sasuke nearly tripped over his feet while he choked on the air he'd been breathing in at the time. "Naruto saved us. He took down Gato. He also shared a bunch of food with everyone but didn't charge us anything for it. He's not just a great shinobi – he's an awesome hero!"

"You know, Inari, I think you have something there. I think the Great Naruto Bridge has a nice ring to it."

Sasuke opened his mouth to tell the villagers that that was the worst name ever when Kakashi yelled, "Sasuke! Get a move on before I toss you on Buru's back!"

After sending one last dirty look at the cheering idiots that had just named a bridge after the biggest idiot of all, Sasuke stalked off after his pathetic teammates.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Ano – er, um, uh  
Arigatou – thank you  
Okaasan/kaasan/kaachan – mother  
Shikyaku no Jutsu – Four-Legged Technique

**Notes:**

Kakashi's Ninken Pack  
Pakkun (the talking pug)  
Shiba (the one with the black crest on his head)  
Bisuke (little one with tattoo on forehead)  
Akino (one with glasses)  
Guruko (little one with the hitai-ate on his forehead)  
Uhei (one with bandages)  
Urushi (the white one)  
Buru (the big black bulldog)

* * *

**AN:** _Haruo's brief period of 'detachment' and 'extra clinginess' while wearing the displacement seal will be explained in the story; so please don't hound me for answers since I dislike handing out spoilers to my own stories. On the same note, his extreme dependence on Naruto will also be addressed within the story. ~ Jenn_

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	27. A Subdued Homecoming

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Subdued Homecoming

_May 17, 1990, 5:19 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Kakashi silently reflected on the mission from hell that he and his cute little Genin had just completed while his eyes constantly searched for potential threats as they approached Konoha.

As far as missions went, Kakashi would rank it right up there with some of the worst missions he'd taken while he'd been in the ANBU Corps. FUBAR didn't even cover how messed up the mission had been from his perspective. And yet, they all somehow survived the entire mess. For that, Kakashi was thankful.

He did not think he could have continued to endure living if he'd lost another teammate or, in this case, one or more of his students.

Still, he wasn't certain the mission had been worth the cost. And he wasn't just referring to Tazuna's original lie about the risk involved because he hadn't had the money to pay for a higher ranked mission. All four of his cute little students had paid a steep price. Layers of their innocence had been cruelly ripped from them and only time would tell just how that loss was going to affect them.

Actually, he already had a good idea how it was affecting at least three of them.

Sakura had matured considerably over the course of the mission (especially after the confrontation on the bridge) and her eyes had been opened to the real risks she would face as a kunoichi. She'd also opened up to Haruo and Naruto, who both seemed willing to accept her; something he had not expected to happen quite so quickly due to the grudge the two boys had been carrying since the day of the team assignments. Naruto had lost a touch of his playfulness and his drive to improve himself (which had always been rather high) had been nearly doubled. Sasuke had, unfortunately, turned even colder and deepened the wedge that stood between him and his teammates.

And then there was Haruo.

Kakashi wasn't certain what was going through his youngest Genin's mind or how he was handling what happened.

At first, he'd been sure that Haruo's withdrawal upon regaining consciousness after his second bout of chakra exhaustion was a result of the emotional turmoil he'd experienced when he'd believed Naruto had been killed. He wasn't so certain that that had been the case now; since Haruo had practically bounced back to his normal self once the chakra disruption seal had been removed.

Kakashi had been advised (more like warned) by both the toads and his ninken to never seal Haruo's abilities. It was that advice/warning that had kept him from using a suppression seal to keep Haruo from drawing on his chakra until his chakra coils (and magical core) had fully recovered. He had originally believed that a disruption seal would not pose any risk since it didn't actually cut a person off from their chakra the same way the suppression seal did; it merely made it so that they couldn't mold chakra long enough to perform an actual jutsu.

He was beginning to suspect that the seal had affected Haruo on a far deeper level than it was designed to though.

It was something to look into once they were back in Konoha at any rate.

Aside from that brief period of altered personality, Haruo wasn't behaving any differently than he normally did. Kakashi could almost believe that Haruo was still the same boy he'd been at the start of the mission and then he would remember the way Haruo had snapped on the bridge. Or he'd recall how the first thing he'd done after he'd regain consciousness was try to attack Haku again. Nor did he miss the dark look in the nine year old's eyes each time he saw Haruo's gaze land on their prisoners.

Haruo never said or did anything to either prisoner though.

He also never glared at the two prisoners for long; always yanking his gaze away from them as if looking at them burned.

If Kakashi had to guess, he'd say that Haruo was trying to pretend that the entire fight on the bridge didn't happen based on the way he tried to ignore their prisoners. He had tried to talk to Haruo about the fight but that had been back when Haruo was… detached from the world around him and the boy hadn't said more than one or two words to him during the entire conversation. The rest of his answers had been shrugs, nods, and head shakes.

After the disruption seal had been removed, he hadn't seen a need to have the discussion a second time because Haruo had bounced right back to his old self. Looking back, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if he should have had a second discussion with the boy; if only to determine exactly what Haruo was feeling about the matter. Then again, Kakashi wasn't exactly an expert when it came to stuff like that; if he was, then he'd be a little less messed up than he was. No, it was far better that he left the mental and emotional stuff to Inoichi.

Speaking of mental and emotional issues, there was also the fact that Haruo refused to allow Naruto out of his sight but that really wasn't much of a change when one considered the fact that the two boys had practically been glued at the hip since the day they met.

_Actually, that's something I'm going to have to work with him on again; it's not healthy for Haruo to be that dependant on Naruto and he's even clingier now than he had been after the Mizuki incident_, Kakashi thought to himself with a slight frown. _Far too many people could and would use that against him._

Kakashi let his eyes drift to the individual in question and felt a frown tug the corners of his mouth down as he watched the nine year old twisting his head back and forth as they made their way home. To the untrained eye, it would look like the kid was merely taking in the sights and attempting not to miss even the smallest detail. To Kakashi's experienced eye, his student's current behavior was more along the lines of a paranoid shinobi searching for potential threats. There was no reason for Haruo to behave in such a fashion though because he would be able to sense anyone laying in wait long before any ambush could be sprung.

_Unless the gaki is questioning the accuracy of his ability to sense others_, Kakashi silently corrected himself as his frown deepened.

After thinking about it for a moment, Kakashi grimaced as he realized it was perfectly logical for Haruo to question that ability due to how Zabuza had managed to sneak up on the nine year old at least twice. Kakashi wasn't all that surprised that Zabuza had managed that; the other Jounin _was_ a master of the Silent Killing Technique – a technique that allowed him to sneak up on high level targets. He would just have to make certain that Haruo knew that he wasn't to blame for not spotting someone with more far experience than him.

The newfound discovery that Haruo now doubted himself actually helped Kakashi relax a little since it was an obvious reaction to the mission and it was something he could help the nine year old work through. There was bound to be other issues he hadn't yet worked out but that was true for the rest of his Genin as well and he knew he could count on Inoichi to spot those when the four Genin sat for their mandatory after mission mental assessments. Well, technically, those were more along the lines of after a-mission-gone-wrong mental assessments to ensure the shinobi hadn't been compromised.

Now that he [sort of] knew what was going on with his youngest student, Kakashi let his mind review other aspects of their most recent mission in order to help him prepare for the upcoming debriefing he'd be required to give.

Chief amongst those aspects were the recent and current conditions of Nami no Kuni. Aside from the obvious economic suffering that the small country had endured while under Gato's thumb, there was also agricultural and health issues that had been par for the course thanks to the country's impoverished state and Gato allowing his thugs to run around unchecked. Gardens and cropland had been salted, mills had been burned down, and fishing boats had been sabotaged; all of which had seriously hampered the population's ability to feed themselves.

Medicine had also been in short supply and what medicine had been available had been priced ridiculously high as Gato milked the country for every last ryo he could squeeze out of them. The only reason why Tazuna had been able to fund his bridge was due to the fact that his life's savings had been safely secured in Hi no Kuni's National Bank as the man had been apprenticed under a well known engineer and architect from Tanzaku Gai before he returned to Nami upon reaching journeyman status a few decades earlier.

No matter how irritated he was over Tazuna's lies at the start of the mission, Kakashi had to respect the man for putting his life and fortune on the line for his country.

After Gato's death, the people of Nami had quickly begun to put their lives back together now that they no longer had to fear for their lives and livelihoods. The civilians had plundered Gato's storehouses for food, clothing, and medicine to help them get through until they could arrange supply shipments from the continent. The extra fruit and vegetables that Haruo had let Naruto give to the villagers would help as well since Haruo's home grown produce was always of the highest quality.

That willingness to share had gone a long way towards improving the natives' views on Konoha's shinobi since most of them had believed the only thing a shinobi was good for was stealing and killing for exorbitant prices prior to Team Seven showing up on their doorstep.

Sakura had also done her part to help improve relations between Konoha and Nami. He'd originally assigned her to watch over Tazuna simply to give her something to do to keep her from moping over being kept out of the fight against Haku by Haruo's quick thinking. She'd taken that duty to heart and had actually captured three mercenaries that had attempted to take out Tazuna as they blamed the man for the loss of their 'paycheck'. Sakura had also used the limited first aide skills that he'd taught his Genin over the past few months to treat those injuries or illnesses that were within her capabilities.

She had paid particularly close attention to the injured and sick children; something that had endeared her to the parents and relatives of said children.

Sasuke hadn't been given a chance to help in any of the rebuilding; mostly because the Uchiha had been seriously injured during his fight with the thugs that had attacked Tazuna's family and home. That was probably a good thing based on how poor his attitude had grown since the Oni Kyoudai had attempted to ambush them near the start of the mission.

Kakashi didn't know what he was going to do with that boy.

Instead of acknowledging his weaknesses and faults, he chose to blame others for his failures. Instead of trying to get along with his teammates, he intentionally pushed them further away. Instead of pushing to improve himself, he whined about the improvements of others. Instead of being satisfied with his steady growth under Kakashi's training, he demanded instant power-ups. Quick frankly, the last Uchiha was a spoiled brat and a potential flight risk.

The insolent gaki even thought he was cleverly withholding the fact that he'd awakened his Sharingan.

Kakashi had sensed the change in Sasuke's chakra the moment he'd returned to Tazuna's house after the battle on the bridge. There was no hiding the sudden increase in his [Sasuke's] chakra reserves or the extra chakra lingering around the recently expanded chakra paths situated around the eyes. Kakashi had no trouble picking up the changes since he'd witnessed the changes as they had happened in his deceased teammate when Uchiha Obito had activated his Sharingan on the ill-fated mission that had inevitably cost him [Obito] his life.

It was also rather hard to miss the way Sasuke's chakra output would spike each time the pre-teen had unconsciously activated the Sharingan when he was angry.

The only reason why Kakashi hadn't called him on it was because he wanted to see just how long Sasuke intended to try and hide his Sharingan and why he felt it necessary to hide it in the first place. He hadn't ruled out the possibility that Sasuke might think his new eyes would allow him to 'copy' powerful techniques from both allies and enemies. Kakashi hoped that wasn't the boy's plan since stealing powerful ninjutsu or taijutsu techniques carried the risk of copying something he didn't have the reserves or the training to pull off.

Not only could he potentially do himself serious harm but covertly stealing techniques from his allies would quickly see him alienating said allies. No one liked to have their hard work copied and used without their permission. Most people viewed Sharingan copied techniques as thefts and it was a big reason why quite a few people disliked the Uchiha Clan as a whole; since a number of Uchiha had felt that it was their god-given right to copy whatever they wanted.

Kakashi had been very careful to avoid falling into that kind of trap. He'd never used his Sharingan on a comrade without their express permission. If he accidentally copied something during a training session or while on a mission, he would inform the person he'd copied the technique from and not use the new technique unless he had their permission to do so. The only people he ever copied stuff from without permission was his enemies. In fact, roughly ninety percent of the thousand techniques he'd copied throughout the past seventeen years had been from his enemies.

And most of those enemies hadn't lived long enough to complain about the theft.

Actually, the only enemy still alive to do any complaining was Zabuza; anyone else that had seen his Sharingan while facing off against him [bar his teammates and comrades] was dead. Not that Kakashi had copied more than one or two jutsu from the other man; since all of the other jutsu used by the Demon of the Mist had been ones that Kakashi had already known. Still, he'd have to find a way to convince Zabuza to 'forget' that he ever saw his second-hand Sharingan.

Pushing aside the plethora of potential threats he could use against Zabuza, Kakashi returned his mental focus to his internal mission review while his external senses continued to monitor the surroundings.

In the wake of Gato's death, Kakashi had left the bulk of their mission (guarding Tazuna and his family) to Sakura and his ninken pack. He'd then gone about cleaning up the trash that had fled from the bridge. Those individuals that had been forced to obey Gato (for various reasons) were captured and turned over to the villagers. Those that were (mostly) just petty criminals that had flocked to the biggest bully in the yard were handed over as well. The hard core criminals, murderers, rapists, and rogue shinobi (mostly no-name idiots that hadn't even earned a hitai-ate) or samurai had been put down. Hard.

Kakashi couldn't afford to let the true mercenaries escape.

He could not take the risk that any of them would climb higher in the power vacuum that Gato had left behind in death. Not only would they destroy Nami (to make them an example for anyone else trying to rebel against them), they would turn their sights on Hi no Kuni and Konoha for Team Seven's involvement in Gato's death. And that was something that would have only created more problems both for him and for the Hokage since the Fire Daimyou would blame the Sandaime for increased bandit activity if said bandits were ones that had been left free to cause trouble.

The other thing that Kakashi had done was to lay claim to the now leaderless Gato Corporation by snagging all of the deeds to the vast company to prevent one of the other hidden villages or countries from taking all of that wealth for themselves. It would be especially bad if the Yondaime Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato in Mizu no Kuni were to get his grubby little paws on Gato Corp. That bastard didn't need to get a single toe hold in any country outside of his own. No need to give the cruel man any power to extend his bloodline purges into other countries.

There would be a number of individuals that would raise hell when they learned that Konoha was making an attempt to take over Gato Corp but that was better than the alternative. Kakashi would have been a fool not to snap up Gato's wealth on Konoha's behalf even if they didn't have a slightly legal claim to doing so on the grounds that the man had been attempting an illegal take-over of Nami no Kuni. A country that, despite being recognized as an independent nation, was still considered a protectorate of Uzushiogakure no Sato in Uzu no Kuni. And with Uzu and Uzushio being destroyed, it fell to Konoha (as Uzu's _only_ ally) to protect Uzu's interests.

It was a twisted bit of logic but it allowed Kakashi to claim Gato Corp in Konoha's name.

And, when the other villages inevitably raised a stink about it (because he knew they would), the Hokage could break up the powerful corporation and sell bits and pieces of that power to the other countries. That would serve to break up the huge monopoly that Gato had put together while appeasing the other countries and raking in both cash and favors from those seeking to 'purchase' the spoils. Not to mention the fact that it would serve to 'pay' the penalty fees that Tazuna owed Konoha for lying about the mission in the first place since it was Tazuna's mission that had allowed Kakashi the opportunity to snag the deeds necessary to claim Gato Corp.

Hence the reason why no one in Nami had protested Kakashi claiming Gato Corp in Konoha's name.

Kakashi knew it would be seen as a clever but underhanded coop by those dissatisfied with the eventual distribution of the wealth but it would also reaffirm Konoha's place as one of the most powerful villages.

If not _thee_ most powerful village.

Hi no Kuni would also reap the benefits of such a move and the Fire Daimyou would not hesitate to back the Sandaime in order to increase his own political (and financial) standing.

Team Seven, as the ones to facilitate the coop, would receive both monetary and political rewards for their part. That was both a good and bad thing. It was good because it gained their team some positive recognition. It was bad because it would paint very large targets on the back of his cute little students. Sure, the three boys had already had small targets on their back but the fallout from the mission would still double the size of those targets. That was especially true as more and more people learned of Naruto's Uzumaki heritage and the not-so-little tricks that Haruo had pulled off during the fight on the bridge.

Sasuke would gain more attention by default simply because of what clan he had been born into and the fact that he had been present (something that could potentially upset the Uchiha if he perceived himself to be slighted by the fact that he hadn't received all of the recognition). Sakura would also be firmly dragged into the spotlight as the teammate of all three boys; something that would be good for her career (since it would get her noticed) but potentially bad for her health (because it would get her noticed).

Kakashi nearly groaned out loud at that point as his traitorous mind painted him several very vivid pictures of what Tenzou was going to do to him in response to the added attention Haruo would receive. He might have maintained his silence but he couldn't stop the shiver that ran down his spine as his subconscious chose that moment to unhelpfully remind him of the threats that Kasai would undoubtedly feel the need to carry out when the ANBU Commander learned about the mission.

Maybe he should stop at home and update his will before he reported in?

The twenty-eight year old Jounin let out a soundless snort in response to his own silliness before he pushed his imminent demise (Tenzou was going to _kill_ him for taking his son on this blasted mission) aside as he watched the great curtain wall that ringed Konoha rising through the trees. Based on their current pace and the remaining distance between the village and their current location, Kakashi estimated that it would take them another twenty minutes to reach the main gate and the welcoming committee that was undoubtedly waiting for them (he had sent Pakkun ahead with a message).

He then let his eyes shift until they fell on the two 'prisoners' that he was dragging back to Konoha.

There was actually no real reason for him to bring those two back to Konoha. Well, aside from Haku needing to spend a few nights (or possibly a few weeks) in the hospital (more like the ANBU Infirmary) in order for his injuries to be properly healed. Kakashi just couldn't allow them to walk free though either. Not after the two of them had seen what Haruo was capable of doing. They couldn't afford for anyone to spread rumors about a 'bastard Senju' popping up out of the woodwork.

Not only was Haruo _not_ a Senju but such a rumor would certainly garner the attention of Orochimaru and who knew how many of Konoha's enemies. There was also a slight chance that Senju Tsunade, the Shodai Hokage's granddaughter and the last surviving member of the Senju Clan, would raise a big stink if such rumors were to find their way to her ears. The powerful kunoichi would probably accuse the Sandaime of attempting to lure her back to the village with lies.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he was rather surprised that Tsunade hadn't returned to the village already.

Based upon what he'd learned about Trueborn Sages and the reverence with which the summoning clans held them, he would've figured that the Slug Clan would've ordered Tsunade to confirm the rumor that a Trueborn was living in Konoha. It had been his ninken that had prompted him to teach Naruto and Haruo how to improve their little prank traps when the two boys had first become friends, after all. Actually, they'd pretty much ordered him to train the two boys; something about weak pups being vulnerable to larger predators – Kakashi hadn't bothered to translate their dog-speak at the time.

Ignoring the brief tangent his mind had just taken, Kakashi coaxed his thoughts back to the original topic; the prisoners.

The information that the two had learned about Haruo and by extension, Naruto (including the fact that they were technically each other's weaknesses since the health of one could be used against the other due to how close they were to one another) meant that he couldn't just let them go. The fact that Zabuza and his accomplice had been working for Gato at the time also meant that the former Kiri shinobi potentially had information on Gato's more illicit business dealings; the kind of information that could potentially be used to strengthen Konoha's claim to Gato's fortune.

Then there was the fact that Zabuza would have first hand information on exactly what had happened in Kiri prior to his failed attempt to kill the Yondaime Mizukage and subsequent defection. It was even possible that Zabuza was secretly working with the rebel faction that was trying to dispose of the current Mizukage. Based upon what he'd learned during his reconnaissance forays during the week leading up to the confrontation on the bridge, he knew that Zabuza had only agreed to work for Gato for the money. A fact that increased the likelihood that Zabuza was helping the rebels.

It would certainly explain why Zabuza would agree to work for a man he obviously hadn't respected.

Another reason why it had been prudent to take the two into custody was the fact that they could have easily turned around and attacked Team Seven out of revenge while half their team had been injured and incapable of defending themselves. No sense allowing a known enemy a second chance to regroup enough to attack them a third time. Well, it wasn't like he had wanted to let them have that first chance but Haku was one quick and wily opponent and he had played his part well.

Only the fact that Kakashi knew far more about the way Kiri's Hunter Nin functioned than they expected allowed him to immediately figure out Haku's ploy. If he'd been a lesser shinobi, he probably would have been duped. Hell, if he hadn't stayed in the Corps as long as he did and kept up with his training strictly so he could help Tenzou keep an eye on Haruo (and his honorary otouto), then he probably would've ended up suffering a serious case of chakra depletion right alongside Haruo after how much he'd used his Sharingan in that first fight.

The last reason why Kakashi was dragging the pair to Konoha was a bit more personal.

He could forgive Zabuza for attacking him; they'd been enemies by association strictly because their respective clients had been enemies and not for any personal reason. However, Kakashi could not and _would_ not forgive the man for attacking his team. For targeting his students. Far daring to wish harm upon _his_ honorary otouto. And for having the audacity to target a Trueborn under his protection.

Just because the contract he held with the Dog Clan was a conditional summoning contract instead of a full contract did not mean that he was any less bound by their laws. And he had been charged with Haruo's safety by the toads, dogs, and monkeys shortly after learning about the boy's true heritage.

Kakashi would have preferred to remove Zabuza's head from his shoulder and give his body to his ninken to chew on but his personal vendettas took second place to his duties to his village. So, he left Zabuza alive on the off-chance that the man's head contained valuable information. If, after he'd been milked dry of intel, he was let go (or he attempted to escape); well, Kakashi wasn't about to take him alive a second time. Nor would he just allow the man walk away without some guarantee that the man would not cause any direct or indirect harm to his Genin.

Zabuza would also make a nice meat shield against Tenzou's ire since he could throw the rogue nin at his cute little kohai's non-existent mercy to save his own skin.

Tenzou could be one mean bastard when he felt like it.

Kakashi snorted in amusement as he recalled Haruo's cold-hearted seal prank on the former member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu before he mentally commented, _Like father, like son_.

Konoha's main gate came into view just a few seconds later and Kakashi allowed a fond smile to tug at his lips as Haruo and Naruto both voiced a happy (and more than a little relieved), "Finally!"

"Or not," Haruo added as his enthusiasm abruptly fled when the nine year old noticed the masked Tenzou amongst the welcoming party that was waiting at the gate.

"Koneko-chan doesn't look happy," Naruto agreed in a defeated tone.

Kakashi chuckled under his breath at the two friends. He wasn't really surprised that the two of them could easily divine Tenzou's mood despite the mask he was wearing. The two of them had had close to six years to memorize the Tokubetsu Jounin's body language, after all. A frown crept onto his face a moment later as it occurred to him that the same could be said of his own habits and mood indicators. He snorted a moment later as he realized that those little tells had probably played a small part in the two of them connecting him to Inu-teichou within minutes of meeting him.

"If I don't survive his lecture, you can have my garden, Naruto," Haruo solemnly informed his friend.

"I will treasure it always and share the bounty with Teuchi-jiji and Ayame-chan; kami bless the ramen," Naruto intoned just as seriously and Kakashi was hard put not to start laughing in response to their silliness.

"Kami bless the ramen," Haruo repeated as he clapped his hands together as if preparing to dig into a meal. "Do you think sensei-nii will allow me to have a bowl of Ichiraku's ramen for my last meal?"

"What are the two of you so worried about?" Sakura asked in confusion as she glanced between the squad of ANBU waiting at the gate and the two boys.

"I did something… er, several somethings that I really wasn't supposed to do," Haruo hesitantly admitted as he shifted so that he was half hidden behind Naruto.

Kakashi didn't miss the superior sneer that Sasuke sent towards Haruo at that exact moment. He was going to have to do something to cure the Uchiha's arrogance lickety-split or his attitude was going to get him, or one of his teammates, killed on a mission. He was half tempted to kick the spoiled brat from his team but he wasn't annoyed enough with the boy at the moment to willingly deal with the headaches (or the paperwork) that such a move would generate.

His issues with Sasuke were pushed to the back of his mind as their group slowed to a stop just inside of the gate as the masked Tenzou stepped forward to declare, "My squad has been instructed to relieve you of your prisoners."

Kakashi nodded acceptance as he turned to untie Haku from Buru's back so that he could dismiss the large ninken. He then passed the injured teen over to Yagi while Taka and a pair of ANBU recruits in unfamiliar masks flanked Zabuza. Kakashi was a little surprised that Neko wasn't present as well until he realized that Tenzou's ANBU Tattoo had been altered to the captain's version of the tattoo (the stylized flame now black instead of the original red). The presence of the two unfamiliar recruits and the absence of Yuugao probably meant that Yuugao had been promoted as well.

The four ANBU disappeared with the prisoners a heartbeat later leaving just Kuma and Karasu standing in front of Team Seven. Kakashi didn't miss the way Tenzou's gaze slid sideways to rest on his son. Nor did he miss the way Haruo shrunk in on himself, kept his gaze averted to avoid meeting his father's eyes, and once again attempted to hide behind Naruto; a reaction that caused Tenzou to narrow his eyes behind his mask as he returned his gaze to Kakashi. The Jounin sensei gave his former subordinate a laconic smile before he formed the ANBU code sign for FUBAR'd Mission.

Tenzou flashed back a string of signs that Kakashi mentally translated as; '_No shit; kind of hard to miss the fact that one of your prisoners was Momochi Zabuza, the Kirigakure no Kijin._'

Kakashi let out a nervous laugh as he reached up to rub the back of his neck; he might as well have been carrying a huge sign announcing to the world the fact that the mission he'd taken his Genin team on had gone south due to Zabuza's presence. Tenzou leveled a flat glare at him and Kakashi almost, _almost_, flinched as he imagined the number of painful threats that the younger shinobi might well carry out once he heard the mission's details.

"The Sandaime is expecting you in his office for a full debriefing," Tenzou stated as he stopped giving Kakashi the stink eye and let his gaze drift to his son once more.

"Sasuke-kun will need to be escorted to the hospital first; his wounds have not fully healed and I'm concerned that there might be an infection settling in the abdominal wound he received."

"Karasu will escort Uchiha-san to the hospital while I escort you to the Hokage's office," Tenzou stated as he signaled for the masked Genma to deal with Sasuke; all three adults easily catching Sasuke's displeasure at being singled out _and_ over having his injury discussed so casually in public.

"Lead on, teichou," Kakashi murmured in reply as he began herding his remaining three Genin towards the Hokage's Tower since he suspected that Tenzou would object (loudly and painfully) if he attempted to dismiss them (or rather, if he sent Haruo out of his father's sight).

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Ano – uh/um/er  
Hi no Kuni – Fire Country  
Kirigakure no Kijin – Demon of the Mist (Zabuza)  
Kirigakure no Sato – Hidden Mist Village  
Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu – Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist  
Konohagakure no Sato – Hidden Leaf Village  
Mizu no Kuni – Water Country  
Nami no Kuni – Wave Country  
Otouto – little brother  
Teichou – captain

**Notes:**

ANBU Tattoos – there doesn't appear to be a standardized tattoo for the ANBU Corps and there is nothing that indicates what the colors mean from what I could find, so I made up the black representing captains and red representing normal recruits just as a way to differentiate between the two of them at a glance. My reasoning for using black for captains was because it is easier to cover red ink with black than vice-versa. Well, that and Kakashi's is black and he was a known captain. I know other authors have used the same plot device as well or at least a similar one.

There also doesn't appear to be a set place for them to appear, though I noticed that shinobi tend to have them on their right shoulder while kunoichi have them on their left. Or at least, Yuugao has hers on the left. Anyway, the tattoos won't be all that important, I just made the distinction so that I could keep things straight in my head lest I keep tossing Neko back with Kuma even though I had Kasai promote her in the story.

FUBAR – Fucked up beyond all recognition/repair (for those who don't already know – because I was there once too) I'm sure there are other variations that define 'R' differently as well but those two are the ones I know.

**Kuma's ANBU Squad:**

Kuma [Captain] (Bear) – Tenzou (just in case anyone forgot)  
Yagi (Goat) – Namiashi Raidou  
Taka (Hawk) – Gekkou Hayate  
Karasu (Crow) – Shiranui Genma  
Uma (Horse) – Nara Ensui (Inu's replacement, minor canon character introduced in Naruto Shippuden Episode 266)  
Hiyou (leopard/panther) – Yamanaka Santa (Neko's replacement, minor canon character introduced in Naruto Shippuden Episode 266)

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	28. Debriefings

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Debriefings

_May 17, 1990, 6:31 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Sakura bit her lip as she glanced between the back of the ANBU escorting them to the Hokage's Tower and Haruo's profile. She was rather confused by the younger boy's sudden change of behavior. He almost acted like the man was going to be the one to personally punish him for whatever it was that he'd hinted he'd done on their mission that he wasn't supposed to do. Then again; maybe he was just scared of the ANBU? They were considered the boogie men of the shinobi world, after all.

The masks they wore were intimidating. And they were amongst the most powerful shinobi in the village. Each one of them were hand picked by the Hokage and Sakura imagined that they would have to be something special or have done something spectacular to gain the Hokage's attention.

A frown worked itself onto Sakura's face a moment later as she recalled Naruto mentioning the name Koneko back when they had first spotted the ANBU that were waiting for them. Koneko didn't really sound like a proper ANBU code name to her. Although… hadn't Haruo also mentioned his mysterious friend? The one he called sensei-nii? Did that mean that Koneko and Haruo's friend were one and the same? But if that was true, then did that mean that Haruo's friend was actually a member of the ANBU Corps?

Sakura's gaze turned thoughtful as she stared at the back of the ANBU's head until the man turned around to look at her in response to her staring. Embarrassed over being caught, Sakura blushed bright red and dropped her gaze to the ground in front of her. Her discomfort would be forgotten a moment later as her thoughts immediately returned to their earlier train of thought. Part of her couldn't help but wonder how the two boys might have meet a member of ANBU and why the man would have any interest in interacting with a couple of kids.

Unless the man had been ordered to keep an eye on the boys to stop their pranks?

Sakura shook her head; no, that didn't make any sense because they'd played plenty of pranks right up until they'd been placed on a team together. And according to Haruo, he's known his 'sensei-nii' for years. At least, she thought he had.

A moment later, Sakura decided none of that mattered at the moment. She was more concerned with the reason why Haruo was suddenly acting like the world was ending. The only other time she ever remembered him acting like that was during the first week or so after he'd regained consciousness after the fight with Zabuza and Haku on the bridge. She didn't think anything of it at the time simply because she had been far more focused on watching over Tazuna, worrying about whether or not Haruo saw her as weak, and wondering if anything else would go wrong on their mission.

Now that she was thinking about it, she thought it was rather odd.

She also couldn't really think of anything that Haruo had done that had been particularly bad outside of fighting with Sasuke on a mission but that was something that Kakashi would likely punish him over. It was possible that he was referring to the fact that he'd pushed himself into chakra exhaustion twice within a fairly short period of time but it seemed rather silly to punish someone for pushing themselves while doing their job. It would've been far worse if Haruo had held himself back and their client had been injured or killed instead.

So what had the younger Genin done that would get him in trouble?

Sakura still hadn't come up with an answer by the time they'd reached the Hokage's Tower and so dropped the matter for now since she didn't think Haruo would want to talk about it within hearing range of his possible friend. It was only a few minutes later that Team Seven (minus Sasuke) found themselves in the Hokage's office where the Sandaime, Ino's father Inoichi (who Sakura had met a few times when she was younger – before her falling out with the blonde), a man that reminded her a lot of Nara Shikamaru from the Academy, and four other individuals she didn't know.

One of those unfamiliar persons was wearing a white mask with flames on it and she assumed that meant that he was also a member of the ANBU Corps. The other three people were two men and one woman; all three of them rather old and one of them permanently crippled from what she could tell. The disabled man creeped her out what with the way his only visible eye raked over her and her teammates.

"Where is the last Uchiha? He is a part of Team Seven, is he not?" the only woman in the room demanded as soon as the door closed behind their masked escort.

"He was escorted to the hospital to have his injuries tended to," Kakashi answered in a bland tone.

"I take it the boy was injured during the capture of Momochi Zabuza," the disabled man inquired in a tone that made the question more of a statement.

"Chigau, Sasuke-kun was injured by a pair of mercenaries with samurai training while he was protecting our client's family on the same day that Zabuza and his apprentice attacked the bridge."

"Are you implying that the rookie of the year was injured by a pair of mere civilians?" the other man, who was wearing glasses, asked in an incredulous tone.

"No, the arrogant Genin got himself injured when he tried to fight six mercenaries head on and overestimated his own abilities and equipment while underestimating his opponents."

"Why did none of your other Genin help him?" the disabled man asked next as the man's eye drifted back to the three teammates in the office. "Uzumaki knows the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu; why did he not supply his teammate with proper backup?"

"Naruto-kun had provided back up; he had twelve clones stationed around the clearing where Tazuna's family lived and those clones had managed to disable and capture half of the mercenaries sent to take Tazuna's daughter hostage before the clones were dispelled due to Naruto being placed in a death-like state by Zabuza's apprentice. Additionally, Naruto-kun and Haruo-kun were guarding the bridge builder at the time and facing off against Zabuza and Haku at the same time as the house had come under siege."

"And where were you?" the woman inquired with a scowl and Sakura was almost insulted on her sensei's behalf over the accusation in the woman's tone.

"I had been escorting Sakura-chan to the bridge to relieve her teammates and the two of us immediately joined the fight with Sakura-chan taking over guarding Tazuna so that Haruo-kun could back up Naruto-kun while I dealt with Zabuza."

"And you expect us to believe that some no-name orphan helped you bring down Zabuza and a Hyouton wielder after Uzumaki had been easily knocked out?" the disabled man demanded in a condescending tone.

"Enough," the Hokage ordered as he slammed his hand down on his desk to gain everyone's attention; the loud sound startling Sakura. "If the three of you are going to badger my Jounin to the point where he can't provide a proper report, then I'm going to ask you to leave. I asked the three of you to attend as a courtesy as you are my advisors but that does not grant you the right to treat this debriefing as a trial simply because Uchiha Sasuke was injured while out of the village on a mission."

"A mission that should have been aborted the instant Hatake had discovered that the client had lied," the disabled man sneered.

"Mendoukusei," the man who looked like Shikamaru grumbled grumpily. "Don't be dense, Danzou; had Kakashi made the decision to abort the mission and his client had been murdered the moment he'd abandoned him, then Konoha's reputation would've taken a huge hit and we'd have lost a large percentage of our clientele due to the fear that they too would be abandoned by a team of Konoha shinobi they had hired. And it would not have mattered that the client had lied because that little detail would've gotten lost amongst the negative rumors that would've cropped up."

"Continuing the mission was still foolish since Hatake's team was ill-prepared to deal with the opposition," Danzou, who turned out to be the crippled man retorted as he slammed his cane down on the floor for emphasis. "Not only should he have returned to Konoha to report the gross breech in contract by the client, he should have immediately handed the mission over to a suitably skilled team!"

"I did report the breech; I sent one of my ninken with a message the moment I discovered that the bridge builder had fudged the facts," Kakashi countered without raising his voice and Sakura found herself admiring her sensei's control since she would have yelled back or curled up and cried if someone had been pointing out everything she'd done wrong like that. "There's also the fact that returning to Konoha would have potentially given Gato enough time to hire more missing nins of questionable rank."

"That does not excuse your negligence! Nor does it allow us to recover the revenue lost because you failed to bring the bridge builder back to have him tried for his breech of contract. The price of a C Ranked Escort Mission that the man paid is less than a third of the cost of an A Ranked Escort Mission that you completed!"

"Nami no Kuni as a whole already paid us restitution for the breech of contract," Kakashi dryly announced and Sakura wondered what the Jounin meant. "They relinquished their claim to Gato Corporation; allow me to fully claim Gato's fortune and businesses on Konoha's behalf for his attempt to invade a territory under the former protection of the defunct Uzushiogakure no Sato since we are Uzu's registered Ally. Oh, and these last two contain the proof necessary to collect a few outstanding bounties on a number of individuals."

Kakashi then walked up to the Hokage's desk, pulled a series of storage scrolls out of his flak jacket, and calmly stated the general contents of each scroll as he set them on the desk with a sharp thwack that emphasized the significance of what he was turning over to the Hokage.

"I was able to retrieve the deeds to the property and businesses that Gato owned, the business documents that Gato had kept in Nami, the account books for all of Gato Corp and its subsidiaries, Gato's Last Will and Testament, and the large amount of cash that Gato had on hand at the time of his death. I also collected anything of value that had been kept in Gato's base to prevent that wealth from being lost. That was in addition to the dead criminals that I secured."

Sakura fidgeted nervously in the tense silence that had fallen in the wake of Kakashi's little show. A covert glance at Danzou let her know the man was still upset about something but wasn't asking any more questions for some reason. The other two unnamed elders that had originally been questioning Kakashi about Sasuke both looked rather nervous all of a sudden but they hadn't spoken up since the Hokage had first told them to back off.

Her thoughts then turned to the scrolls Kakashi had produced and it made her wonder if the reason he'd disappeared so often during the second half of the mission was because he'd been collecting all of that stuff while she watched Tazuna. It would certainly explain why he'd spent so much time away from them. She also knew that he had been capturing the men that had been part of Gato's army since she'd seen him turning over his prisoners to the villagers more than a few times while she'd been protecting the bridge builder or giving first aide to the civilians.

Sakura's attention was immediately pulled back to the present when Danzou and the other unfamiliar man and woman excused themselves and left the room. The pink haired Genin was more than a little glad to see them leave but wondered why they didn't bother to stick around to hear the rest of Kakashi's report. After a few seconds, she pushed the matter out of her mind and focused on the Sandaime when the Hokage addressed her sensei as soon as the door closed behind the three elders.

"Kakashi, why don't you start your report now that the drama appears to be over," the Sandaime encouraged as he transferred the scrolls Kakashi had given him to a drawer in his desk.

"After I sent back the request to have the Oni Kyoudai picked up along with the report that Tazuna had lied about the threat level we would face on the mission, we continued…"

Sakura tuned out Kakashi's voice as he droned on about the general descriptions of the mission and their team's performance over the course of the mission. She soon found her gaze drifting towards Haruo once again and spent the next several minutes observing her youngest teammate's behavior. More than once, she noticed the eleven year old cringing or wincing in response to something their sensei had reported and wondered why. It didn't take a genius to figure out that there was more to the green-eyed boy than she originally believed.

It almost hurt her to find out that he probably didn't trust her enough to share his secrets with her.

Instead of that through depressing her or angering her like it would have before they'd gone on the mission to Nami, she found herself determined to earn Haruo's (and Naruto's) trust. She'd meant it when she'd said she wanted to be their friends after Haruo had stepped in front of her to protect her from Sasuke's anger. Sakura just wasn't certain of how to go about earning the two boys' trust though.

_Maybe I should ask them if I could spend time with them during our days off now that we're back in the village,_ Sakura silently mused as she caught sight of their masked escort slapping his hand over mask in response to Kakashi's description of the shield that Haruo had created to protect Tazuna from Zabuza's blade out of the corner of her eye.

Strange, that. Then again, creating that shield had exhausted Haruo the first time. Maybe the man was just worried about Haruo's health? Or had Haruo's use of that jutsu been forbidden outside of training? Could that be what Haruo had been talking about when he'd mentioned he'd done something he wasn't supposed to?

Sakura mulled the possibility over in her mind for a few minutes before she turned her thoughts to her ruined friendship with Ino and what she was going to have to do to fix it. She supposed she should start with an apology. Though, she was not looking forward to Ino's reaction to said apology. Or worse, her reaction to Sakura's pending announcement that she was no longer interested in Sasuke. Sakura was half certain that Ino would refuse to be her friend again the moment she told the blonde about Sasuke's cruel side.

The young kunoichi let out a soft sigh of resignation as she recalled the mess she'd made of her life with her decision to become one of Sasuke's many fan-girls shortly after she'd befriended Ino.

* * *

_May 17, 1990, 7:28 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Shikaku frowned slightly as he listened to Kakashi droning on and on about the mission he and his Genin team had just completed. It didn't escape his notice that the younger Jounin had intentionally left out quite a few details during the course of his report. He just didn't know the motivation behind the omissions. He suspected that Kakashi's reasons for withholding those details had something to do with the glaring holes on Haruo's file but he had no proof.

The Nara Clan Head silently cursed the fact that he'd allowed the issue with the holes in Shikamaru's education and training at the Academy to distract him from the mystery surrounding the young Genin during the past few months. He then returned his attention to Kakashi as the younger man finally wrapped up his truncated report.

"We remained in Nami until the bridge was completed as per the parameters of the original mission. After the completion of the bridge on the twelfth, we remained Nami an extra day to give Sasuke a chance to get used to being on his feet again before we left on the morning of the fourteenth and took our time coming back in order to avoid taxing Sasuke's and Haku's injuries."

"I see," the Sandaime murmured thoughtfully as he stroked his goatee. "Do you have an estimate of how many of Gato's ragtag army escaped capture?"

"I would say no more than a dozen at most since there weren't that many seaworthy boats that they could have used to leave the island and I kept close watch on the bridge right up until we left in order to prevent them from using it to disappear into Hi no Kuni the moment it was finished."

The Sandaime hummed a wordless acknowledgement before he instructed, "Inoichi, why don't you take Haruno-chan into the back office and start her assessment. I'll send the other two to you once their punishment for inappropriate behavior on a mission has been decided upon." The Hokage then fished the scrolls that Kakashi had given him earlier out of his desk as he added, "Shikaku, I'd like you to personally deliver these to the appropriate people and to supervise the legal preparations for our takeover of Gato Corporation."

"Of course, Hokage-sama," Shikaku replied without revealing his disappointment at being kicked out of the meeting as he collected the handful of scrolls.

The moment he stepped outside of the office, he felt a barrier being raised in the room behind him and the lazy Nara just knew that he had just missed a golden opportunity to have all of his questions answered. Letting out a soft sigh, Shikaku made his way out of the tower and headed for the T and I Building so he could deliver the scrolls containing the bodies of the dead that Kakashi had brought back with them to Ibiki for processing. He would find his target in his office and Shikaku almost smirked when he noticed the scowl on the other man's face.

"Bored already, Ibiki? I thought for sure you'd be busy enjoying the present that Kakashi brought back from Nami for you."

"No, ANBU claimed that little gift."

"I guess that means you'll have to make do with the consolation prize," Shikaku quipped as he tossed the two black bordered scrolls he was carrying at Ibiki.

"Who did you bring me?"

"Not sure but I believe most of them will be civilian criminals with outstanding bounties and possibly an occasional rogue samurai or failed Shinobi Academy Student thrown in."

"Sugoi," Ibiki sarcastically replied as he dropped both scrolls into his desk drawer. "Was that the only thing you brought me or did you have something else for me?"

"That was it; the rest is all paperwork, hard cash, and fancy junk that needs to be sorted."

"Have fun with that."

"Not my job," Shikaku countered with a snort as he made his way to the door. "I'm just playing delivery boy."

Shikaku left Ibiki's office to the sound of the other man's laughter. He then put the other man's amusement out of his mind as he made his way one floor higher in the T and I Building to where Konoha's Intelligence Department was located. He didn't stay there long as all he needed to do was drop off the scrolls that held Gato's documents and business files and inform them that their report was to be sent to his desk as soon as they finished combing through everything.

His next stop was then Konoha's Treasury where the scrolls holding the property and business deeds, Gato's will, and the scrolls holding both the cash and the material wealth were passed over to the team of accountants responsible for the village's finances. His last stop was the law firm that handled Konoha's legal affairs in order to start the process that would finalize Konoha's claim to Gato's former business empire.

Once the lawyers had released Shikaku from their grip, he allowed his thoughts to return to the mystery surrounding Haruo as he headed home. It was as he was passing through the torii gate that marked the entrance to the Nara Estate that he finally recalled the fact that Shikamaru had never gotten around to giving him a report on his impressions of Naruto and Haruo a few months back. The subject of the Academy's failures had taken precedence at the time. He'd have to remedy that as soon as he could track down his son.

"You missed supper, again," Yoshino irritably stated the moment he set foot in the house and it took all of Shikaku's willpower not to flinch at the sight of the rolling pin tucked into his wife's folded arms.

"The Sandaime had me running around handling a few urgent errands of a sensitive nature in the wake of Team Seven's recent return from a C Rank turned A Rank escort mission," Shikaku apologetically offered with a weary shrug of his shoulders. "I hadn't expected to be kept out as late as I was or I would've sent word to let you know."

"Team Seven…? Isn't that Naruto and Haruo's team?" Shikamaru inquired as he stuck his head out of the kitchen.

"Yes, it is."

"Haruo's team?" Yoshino repeated in a worried tone and Shikaku glanced sideways at his wife in time to see a troubled expression crossing her face. "You said their mission had been upgraded from a C Rank to an A Rank, ne?"

"Yes."

"Are they alright?"

"They made it back in one piece; though there were injuries incurred during the course of the mission," Shikaku readily informed his wife.

"Yokatta," Yoshino breathed in relief before she spun on her heel and headed back to the kitchen. "Shikamaru, you are to invite Haruo-kun and his friend over to supper on Sunday; it's been months since the last time they were here and someone has to make certain those two boys are taking care of themselves. That means that you're going to need to clean up that room of yours before the weekend."

"Mendoukusei," Shikamaru complained as his shoulders slumped in response to being told to clean his room.

"Shikamaru, when your mother's finished with you, come see me; there's something we need to discuss," Shikaku instructed before he disappeared into his office before his wife could give him a list of chores to complete in preparation for their weekend guests.

"Hai, tousan," Shikamaru unenthusiastically muttered to Shikaku's back as he reluctantly returned to the kitchen where he'd probably been washing dishes prior to Shikaku's return.

While he waited for his son to join him, Shikaku set up the Shogi board and mentally reviewed the various questions he intended to ask his son that night. And he had more than just a few; a number of them generated by Team Seven's recent mission to Nami. Half an hour later, Shikamaru entered the office carrying a plate of rewarmed leftovers that he handed over to Shikaku before he sat down at the Shogi board. Shikaku let his son plot out his first move while he took a moment to eat before the food got cold again.

"How's your training coming along?" Shikaku inquired a few minutes later as he set his empty plate aside before he took his seat across the Shogi board from his son.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled as he made his first move. "Will you tell me why Team Seven's mission was bumped up in rank from a C to an A?"

"Is it the training itself that's troublesome or the fact that you are required to actually train that's troublesome?"

"Both. And Ino has been extra bossy for the last month because she's been grumpy over missing her 'Sasuke Time'. Are you going to answer my question or are you ignoring it because you can't answer?"

Shikaku rolled his eyes in response to his son's one-track mind before he answered, "The client lied about a few aspects of the mission." He then took the time to counter his son's most recent move. "Are you struggling with any part of your training?"

"Not really; it's just tedious and tiresome."

"Remind me to show you a couple of exercises designed to increase your stamina."

"I wasn't looking for more work when I came in here, you know."

"That doesn't change the fact that your stamina is below average for your age."

"Whatever," Shikamaru grumbled as he made his next move.

Instead of bothering to address his son's petulant response to being offered additional training, Shikaku moved again before he changed the subject as he instructed, "Describe for me your very first meeting with Haruo."

* * *

_May 17, 1990, 7:36 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo watched the back of Shikamaru's father disappear through the office door before he reluctantly returned his gaze to the Hokage in order to avoid looking at his father. He couldn't quite stop a shiver from dancing up his spine when he felt Kasai activate a temporary privacy barrier. The nine year old cast another longing glance towards the exit before he let out a soft sigh and leaned against Naruto.

"You're not really going to punish us, are you, jijii?" Naruto demanded as he shifted his footing to compensate for Haruo's sudden weight.

"Yes, I am, Naruto," the Sandaime sternly countered. "The unprofessional behavior that you demonstrated on your mission could have cost us future business if your client had taken offense to the two of you constantly bickering with your teammate."

"That's not fair! We didn't start any of the fights!"

"It doesn't matter who started the fights; it was still wrong of you to behave so immaturely while on a mission and all three of you will be punished accordingly."

"Chikushou," Naruto muttered mutinously under his breath before he asked, "What is our punishment going to be?"

"To start, I will be restricting Team Seven to D Ranked missions until such time as your sensei deems that the four of you are capable of maintaining an appropriate level of professionalism in front of your clients. I'm also going to dock your pay a full rank for the mission to Nami. That's on top of whatever punishments your sensei deems necessary to impress upon you the need to behave appropriately while on a mission."

"Ah, man; that sucks."

"Be thankful that I'm not suspending the three of you from active duty for a month," the Sandaime retorted in response to Naruto's verbal complaint and both boys winced in response to the casual threat of having their hitai-ate temporarily confiscated. "Any other complaints? No? Good. Moving on, the next point that needs to be addressed is what happened during the confrontation on the bridge. Kakashi, if you would be so kind as to fill us in on the details that you omitted from your original report."

"There were only a small handful of omissions that I made due to Sakura and Shikaku's presence," Kakashi stated and Haruo turned his head so that he could watch his father out of the corner of his eye. "First, Haruo pulled on both his Mokuton and his mahou after Naruto had been placed in a death-like state. His Mokuton manifested in the form of a dozen living beams of wood that grew from his chest and back. He was able to wield all twelve beams like an extension of his body; using them to pummel his opponent as well as tie up both prisoners."

"His mahou, on the other hand, created flames that were hot enough to set fire to the Hyouton user's ice in addition to melting through concrete and steel. He also did a strange little transportation trick that allowed him to instantaneously transport himself from point A to point B in a matter of seconds. The technique reminded me of sensei's Hiraishin; only instead of producing a flash of yellow light upon arrival, it produced a loud crack when he disappeared and another when he reappeared in a new location."

"The next omission had to deal with Naruto's seal. I'm not certain if it was a result of the senbon that had embedded themselves into his stomach and coils or if it was a result of the death-like state he'd been placed into but upon regaining consciousness, Naruto drew on the Kyuubi's chakra in his anger. He regained control of the chakra by the time he'd reached Gato and as soon as the Kyuubi's chakra had dissipated, he pulled on his Uzumaki heritage and produced the chakra chains once again."

"The final omission has to do with Sasuke and the fact that he awakened his Sharingan. The only reason why I didn't mention that earlier was due to the fact that Sasuke has not spoken to me about the awakening of his Sharingan and has in fact attempted to hide his Sharingan from me. I easily recognized the changes to the chakra pathways around his eyes and the boost the awakening gave his reserves though. I'm also concerned that he'll attempt to use his new eyes to copy the techniques that Naruto and Haruo know due to the jealousy he harbors towards both boys."

"Were there any witnesses to those three events?" Kasai gruffly demanded and Haruo cringed as he felt the weight of the ANBU Commander's stare fall on him.

"Aa, Zabuza and Haku both witnessed Haruo's little melt-down; Zabuza mistakenly identified Haruo as a bastard of the Senju Clan due to what he saw. He didn't comment on Haruo's mahou at any point though; not even to comment on his ability to teleport – so I doubt he understood what it was he'd been seeing at the time. Zabuza, Gato, and Gato's army of thugs witnessed Naruto unleashing the Kyuubi's chakra and using his Uzumaki Heritage but Haku was unconscious at that point. And there were only eight potential witnesses to Sasuke's awakening; the bridge builder's daughter and grandson, and six of Gato's thugs."

"What about Tazuna-san? Was he not on the bridge during the confrontation?" the Sandaime inquired with a slight frown as he fiddled with his pipe.

"Yes, he was on the bridge; however, he did not witness any portion of the fight as he'd been secured in a solid dome of earth that Haruo had hardened into steel through the earth-pressing exercise."

"That's something, I suppose."

"Small comfort when one takes into account the fact that Gato's army of thugs numbered well into the hundreds," Kasai dryly pointed out. "Gato had to have had at least one of his thugs monitoring the situation on the bridge simply because of the timing of his arrival; so, it's safe to assume that far more people are aware of what happened during the fight on the bridge. A fact that defeats all of our efforts to keep both brats' abilities under wraps."

"That's a possibility," Kakashi agreed slowly. "However, I believe that Haruo's feats on the bridge were overlooked by Naruto's demonstration. The majority of rumors filtering through the village in the wake of the fight on the bridge were about Gato's death and the part Naruto played in the man's heart giving out. There hadn't been a single whisper about Haruo or his Mokuton; not even amongst the mercs that I rounded up."

"That doesn't change the fact that we can expect the gaki's heritage and Kekkei Genkai to become public knowledge sooner rather than later," Kasai grumpily countered. "It would only take a single person blabbing about what they saw into the wrong ear; and you left at least two such persons alive!"

"Why did you leave Zabuza and his accomplice alive?" the Sandaime inquired as he leaned back in his chair and placed the stem of his pipe in his mouth. The question left Haruo's stomach all in knots because there had been several long minutes where he _hadn't_ wanted to leave Haku alive and he had nearly beaten the teen to death with his Mokuton. "It would've been far less of a hassle to permanently silence them."

"Originally, it was to keep Haruo's anger focused on an appropriate target rather than dealing with the potential risk that he might bring the bridge down around our ears in his grief over Naruto's temporary death. After Gato died, there just didn't seem any point in killing the two of them since we'd already captured them and I didn't dare release them on the off-chance that they might seek revenge once they had recovered from their injuries."

"Hn," the Hokage grunted as he shifted his gaze from Kakashi to Naruto before it settled on Haruo. "Naruto; why don't you go see if Inoichi is finished viewing your teammate's memories?"

"Does that mean that you're finished with us, jijii?" Naruto asked as he glanced towards the door that Inoichi had taken Sakura through before he returned his gaze to the Hokage.

"Almost, there are a few things left that need to be addressed before I let you both go though. The two of you will also need to see Inoichi before you are dismissed and there's no reason for you to stand around when we question Haruo in regards to his actions when it would be more efficient for you to see Inoichi while we finish up with Haruo."

"Oh," Naruto murmured in reply as he reluctantly stepped away from Haruo.

Haruo stumbled as soon as Naruto moved away from him due to the way he'd been leaning up against his friend. As he watched the blond walk away, his heart seized in his chest when he realized that Naruto was being sent out of the room. Breathing became rather difficult as Haruo began to panic over the mere idea of allowing Naruto out of his sight. The moment Naruto placed his hand on the door handle, Haruo took a single step towards his friend and found himself being squeezed on all sides and pulled through a straw again.

The feeling stopped a heartbeat later as he appeared practically right on top of Naruto with a loud crack. He then threw his arms around Naruto's waist and tackled him to the ground as he begged, "Don't leave me!"

Naruto yelped in surprise and groaned out a pained, "Itai!" when his elbow hit the ground but otherwise made no attempt to pry Haruo off of him.

"I thought we had agreed that you would wean the gaki off of his dependency, Kakashi," Kasai growled in irritation as soon as the adults got over their surprise over the way Haruo had just teleported across the room without any warning.

"I've been working on it since December but Naruto's temporary death triggered a bit of a set back and Haruo has refused to let Naruto out of his sight since he regained consciousness. I'd thought his clinginess had dropped back down to manageable levels after I'd removed the chakra disruption seal I'd placed on him to keep him from drawing on his chakra while he recovering from his second bout of extreme chakra exhaustion in such a short time period but apparently I was wrong on that account."

"I thought the summoning clans warned you not to meddle with his chakra network," the Sandaime commented with a frown.

"They only told me to never fully suppress his chakra or bind any of his abilities," Kakashi corrected. "After Haruo had exhausted himself in his little temper tantrum, I felt it best to make certain that he couldn't draw on his chakra in the event that he woke up disoriented lest he do himself further damage. The seal didn't appear to cause him any harm or distress. It wasn't until after I removed the seal that I learned it had potentially interfered with his ability to sense chakra but that could have also been a product of the exhaustion he'd been experiencing at the time."

"You can look into that another time; for now, I'm more interested in wrapping up this mission debriefing so that I can call it a day before my grandson decides to prank me in retaliation for spending all evening in the office yet again."

Haruo soon found himself back in the middle of the room with Naruto and the two of them would be grilled on their brief fight against Zabuza and their fight against Haku. The two Genin would then be sent to Inoichi where Naruto would be questioned a second time before Haruo's memories of the mission were reviewed by the Mind Walker. Once they were finished, Kakashi escorted the two of them back to their apartment while his father went to see if Tokage was free to give the two friends a medical exam that evening.

Haruo wasn't really looking forward to his father's return since he knew his father was angry with him; it was kind of hard to miss the stiffness in Kuma's posture or the fact that the masked shinobi hadn't said a single word during the entire debriefing. He was also not looking forward to the various lectures he knew he was going to be given. Nor was he in any hurry to find out what additional punishments Kakashi and Kuma would assign to them for fighting with Sasuke in the middle of a mission.

The young Trueborn let out a gusty sigh as the trio reached the apartment building where he and Naruto lived; it was going to be a long night.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Chigau – can be used to mean wrong, no, or to differ  
Chikushou – damn/damn it  
Gaki – brat  
Itai – ouch  
Mendoukusei – how troublesome, what a drag, or this sucks  
Sugoi – wonderful/wow/awesome or dreadful/terrible (depending on how it is said)  
Yokatta – an expression of relief, usually translates as 'I'm so glad' or 'thank goodness!'

* * *

**AN: **_Some of this chapter might still feel a bit rushed since I've only edited it once or twice and it's not as polished as I'd prefer but it could still be worse. I'm also not one hundred percent happy with the last section but it is far better than what I'd originally had there. _

_Hm… what else, oh, I know. Haruo's dependency has been acknowledged again here but it'll be addressed in more detail in the next arc. The same is true for some of the little oddities that were cropping up around Haruo's chakra sensory, his Mokuton limits, and his magic. You can also expect to see Tenzou's reaction to Haruo's tantrum and bouts of chakra exhaustion, the reunion between Haruo, Sirius, &amp; Remus, and a few other things. ~ Jenn_

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	29. The Dreaded Parental Lecture

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Dreaded Parental Lecture

_May 17, 1990, 7:59 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Tenzou scowled beneath his mask as he walked down the outside wall of Tokage's apartment until he reached the man's bedroom window. He'd barely crouched down on the wall beside the window when he felt a small spike of chakra come from the other side of the wall letting him know that the medic had picked up on his presence. Seeing that he already had the other man's attention, Tenzou flared his chakra twice to identify himself and then shifted a few feet back from the window as the window was opened from the inside.

"What did you need, Kuma-teichou?" Okada Kanpou (the unmasked Tokage) inquired as he poked his head out of the window.

"Post Mission Medical Assessment for a certain trouble magnet and his partner in crime," Tenzou answered in a clipped monotone as he tried not to think about the details of said mission; because if he dwelled on those pesky little details, then he was going to kill something.

Or someone.

Preferably Kakashi.

And Momochi Zabuza as well.

And possibly the client too.

It _had_ been the bridge builder's fault that that particular mission had been offered to a team of Genin instead of a squad of Chuunin or Jounin.

"Give me five minutes to get dressed and grab my supplies," Kanpou replied around a snort before he withdrew his head from the window.

Five minutes later, Kanpou climbed through the window wearing his ANBU uniform and mask. Tenzou didn't even bother to wait for the man to lock up his apartment before he was heading back up the wall to the roof. Tokage (Kanpou _had_ donned his mask) followed him up less than a minute later and the two of them were soon traveling across the rooftops towards the apartment complex where Haruo lived with Naruto.

It wouldn't take the two of them very long to reach the pink monstrosity (that had actually been painted that color by the owner and not through one of the boys' pranks like most people thought). As soon as his feet touched down on the roof of the building directly over Naruto and Haruo's apartment, Tenzou sank down through the ceiling in order to avoid any active traps while Tokage headed for the covered walkway and the front door. Tenzou's feet had barely touched the floor before he made a beeline towards Kakashi at the same time as Tokage knocked on the door.

"Get the door, Naruto," Tenzou barked a split second before his fist buried itself in Kakashi's stomach.

"Nice to see you too, kohai," Kakashi wheezed as the older Jounin's hand snapped out to catch the follow up punch that Tenzou had aimed at the man's face. "Could we at least sit down discuss this like the calm, rational, and responsible adults we are before you try to rearrange my face with your fists while your son is watching?"

"Give me one good reason why I should bother to listen to anything you have to say after you took my son on a mission that nearly got him killed."

"_One word; prophecy,_" Kakashi stated in Spanish; the retired ANBU Captain purposefully slipping into a language that the two pre-teens in the apartment couldn't understand.

Tenzou felt as if a bucket of ice had been dropped on his head upon hearing the word prophecy. He had not forgotten the handful of times that Jiraiya or one of the toads had popped up with warnings based on the prophecies that were linked to his son. Knowing that there was a prophecy involved made it slightly easier for him to ignore the urge he felt to skin Kakashi alive but it in no way diminished his anger. Tenzou _really_ disliked the fact that it was _his_ son's life that had been put on the line for the sake of a stupid prophecy.

"_Jiraiya didn't pass on any warnings regarding a prophecy when he was here,_" Tenzou retorted in kind as he tried to recall whether or not the Sennin had mentioned a prophecy in his presence when he'd been in the village.

"_Jiraiya was in the village? When…? Was it before or after the first?_"

"_He arrived on the fourth._"

"_So, he probably wasn't here to warn anyone about the prophecy since we'd already faced Zabuza by that time. Do you know why he was here?_"

"_Yes, the Sandaime ordered him back to the village to help with vetting the two…_" Tenzou started to answer before he trailed off as he recalled the fact that the two Trueborns that Jiraiya had been in the village to help with were only in the village because of Haruo. His eyes automatically drifted to his son as he worried again over the potential influence both men might have over the nine year old.

"I hate to break up your little reunion but I'm going to need a brief report before I start the boys' exams so I know what to keep an eye out for as I work," Tokage interjected before Kakashi could grow impatient with Tenzou in response to the incomplete answer.

"Team Seven just returned from a C Rank turned A Rank mission that had us facing off against a handful of missing nin and a large army of professional and amateur mercenaries. Haruo suffered chakra and magical exhaustion twice in a seven day period in addition to picking up first and second degree burns on his face and hands from a string of backfired seals. Furthermore, Haruo complained of having chest pains upon regaining consciousness after the second round of chakra and magical exhaustion despite not having a chest injury."

"Naruto, on the other hand, was placed into a death-like state with multiple senbon, suffered from full body chakra burns due to exposure to demonic chakra, and suffered from a very mild case of chakra exhaustion," Kakashi promptly reported as he released Tenzou's hand and put several feet between himself and Tenzou; not that that would stop the Tokubetsu Jounin from hitting him again if he really wanted to. "I treated their injuries and kept both boys on bed rest for a full week, barred them from any physical training for another two days, and banned them from all chakra related activities and training until they are cleared by you."

Tenzou frowned behind his mask upon hearing that Haruo had been suffering from unexplained chest pains. He had the niggling feeling that his son having chest pains in the wake of a significant magical outburst was something to be very concerned about but he couldn't recall why. He suspected the source of the feeling was the information he'd learned from the two adult Trueborn Sages that he'd escorted to Konoha at the end of last month. He'd have to visit Inoichi later and ask the older Jounin for a copy of his notes.

Sure, he could potentially just go straight to the source and ask either Black or Lupin but they would probably turn around and ask him why he wanted to know and Tenzou wasn't really sure he wanted either man to know that Haruo was back in the village just yet. It was probably unreasonable (and selfish) of him but he wanted to postpone that particular reunion for as long as possible.

"Are you still having chest pains now, Haruo?" Tokage inquired as he coated his hands with healing chakra and immediately began scanning the nine year old's chest.

"No," Haruo answered in a tiny little voice as he shot a furtive look in Tenzou's direction.

"Do you remember experiencing chest pain like that any other time?"

"No… well, not really… I mean, it hurt because Naruto wouldn't wake up and I thought he was dead and then it felt like something inside of my chest snapped. Everything felt wrong because I couldn't sense Naruto anymore and it felt like a great pressure was building up inside of me. It almost felt like I was going to explode and all I could hear was the stupid jerk that had killed my Naruto taunting me about how it was my fault that Naruto was dead and how getting angry wouldn't bring him back and I just wanted him to shut up."

"What happened after that?" Tokage prompted as he shifted his hands down to Haruo's stomach to scan his coils.

"I don't know. I remember feeling the pressure in my chest bursting out in a bunch of wood beams but everything else was just one big blur until Kakashi-sensei told me that Naruto was still alive."

"Hmm," Tokage hummed thoughtfully. "I want you to run through the basic twelve hand seals while molding your chakra internally for me."

Tenzou frowned beneath his mask in response to his son's revelation that he'd been so angry and upset that he'd lost all track of his surroundings and his own actions for a period of time. That was not a good thing. That was a recipe for disaster since it would be far too easy for a person in such a blind state to unwittingly harm an ally. He also didn't like the implication that Haruo's temper could potentially get worse than it had been in the past. His son had always had a hard time _not_ acting on his emotions and acting on them when he was in a blind rage would be very, very bad.

The newly promoted ANBU Captain pushed that revelation to the side for the moment as he focused instead on the feel of his son's chakra sluggishly spiking and falling out of sync with his hand signs as his son molded his chakra as requested. Tenzou's frown soon became a scowl as he immediately picked up on the fact that his son's chakra control had significantly regressed in the wake of his recent mission. He knew that could potentially be a result of him not being allowed to do his daily chakra control exercises for at least five weeks or his recent emotional upheavals.

That was in addition to the possibility that the recent awakening of another aspect of Haruo's Mokuton had also been partially responsible for the drop in control. Tenzou also suspected that his son's reserves might have grown as a result of him pushing himself to exhaustion twice in such a short time period; something else that would have affected his control. He would have to test his son on all of the chakra control exercises he'd been taught to date to know just how far his control had fallen and how much work it would be to get him back up to where he was prior to the cursed mission his team had just completed.

"You can stop now, Haruo-kun," Tokage instructed as he shifted his hands from Haruo's stomach to his face. "Are you feeling any lingering tightness or sensitivity from the recently healed burns on your face?"

"No, but my hands are still a little stiff and itchy because they were burnt worse than my face."

Tokage hummed an acknowledgement and let go of Haruo's face so he could scan the pre-teen's hands starting with the right hand first. While the medic was doing that, Tenzou returned his attention to Kakashi so that he could resume glaring at the older shinobi. He was still very much angry at the man regardless of whatever prophecy was involved.

"_I did what I could to keep things from getting as bad as they could have been given the limitations I had to work with at the time and I brought him home alive and in one piece, if a little battered and bruised around the edges,_" Kakashi pointed out as he once again shifted into Spanish the moment he felt the weight of Tenzou's glare. "_You and I both know that things could have turned out far, far worse._"

"_And you could have avoided it all if you hadn't picked up the blasted C Ranked mission in the first place; or are you going to tell me that Jiraiya had specifically told you to take that mission?_" Tenzou snarked right back at the man in the same language; he was still far too angry to accept the logic in Kakashi's words.

"_No, Jiraiya never gave me a specific mission to look out for; he just told me to never, ever hand a mission my team had been assigned over to another team no matter how many bad vibes I got from the client._"

"_So, what; you just felt like taking a quartet of green Genin on a C Rank for the hell of it?_"

"_No; you and I both know that my team is not as green as the others that graduated in December. Naruto and Haruo both are far more advanced than their peers and it shows. I also thought a mission with a small amount of risk would be enough to push all four of my students into putting aside their petty grudges so they could form an actual team. They weren't supposed to face anyone more dangerous than a bandit or two._"

"_You took my son on a C Rank Mission just because you wanted to force your students into using teamwork by exposing them to civilian criminals that wouldn't hesitate to target them because they were children?_"

"_When you put it that way is does sound bad but you're ignoring the fact that all four of my students have improved since they were assigned to my team. They earned that mission… or rather, they'd earned the right to take an actually C Rank Mission. Holding them back and babying them along wouldn't have done them any favors in the long run; and you damn well know it. And I'll have you know that my attempt to bring my four Genin closer together half way worked; Naruto, Haruo, and Sakura are friends now._"

Tenzou struggled with the urge to punch his former captain a second time because he knew the man right. His son was far better trained to handle the life of a shinobi than Tenzou himself had been when Danzou had first gotten his hands on him. His son was also three years older than Tenzou himself had been when he'd earned his hitai-ate and flak jacket in a single day. Knowing that didn't really make him feel any better though. He was at least thankful that Konoha wasn't currently at war now like they had been when he [Tenzou] had first taken up his hitai-ate.

The Tokubetsu Jounin's attention was pulled away from his sempai at that moment when Tokage declared, "And that's you done, Haruo-kun."

"What did you find?" Tenzou demanded as he left off glaring at Kakashi and strode over to stand beside his son.

"Haruo's hands suffered some minor nerve damage in addition to the burns but the damage is already mostly healed; he'll just need to run through the usual hand stretches three times a day in order to prevent any loss of his manual dexterity. His chakra reserves are also still far lower than normal. Additionally, the size of his reserves appears to have increased based on my examination of his coils; though it's too soon to say exactly how much they've grown since his reserves have not yet fully replenished."

"That's not all that surprising given how much chakra he'd thrown around in both fights," Kakashi mused offhandedly and Tenzou was again tempted to punch the man due to the Jounin's rather blasé tone. "What kind of restrictions, if any, are you going to put him on and for how long?"

"None; though I'd strongly recommend that he avoids using any jutsu above a D Rank for at least another week in order to give his reserves time to finish replenishing. It also goes without saying that the gaki should avoid draining his chakra reserves to critical levels a third time at any point in the next month or he's liable to permanently damage his coils."

"You got that, Haruo?" Kakashi asked as he gave the nine year old a pointed look.

"Hai, sensei," Haruo automatically replied in a resigned tone.

"Good," Tenzou curtly stated as he dropped his hand down on Haruo's shoulder so that he could steer his son towards the kitchen. "We'll be in the kitchen if you need us."

"Demo… demo… I don't want to leave Naruto," Haruo protested as he dug in his feet and tried to twist free of Tenzou's hand.

"Naruto isn't going anywhere and we both know that you'll be able to easily sense him from the kitchen."

"But I won't be able to _see_ him from there!" Haruo exclaimed loudly as he tried to duck out of Tenzou's grasp when twisting hadn't worked.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" Tenzou asked around a huff of exasperation as he spun the nine year old around and picked him up so he couldn't escape.

"I don't want to lose my Naruto again."

"Naruto isn't going to disappear if you leave the room for a few minutes, gaki."

"But if I'm not in the same room with him, then I won't be able to find him if I lose all sense of him again!"

"What makes you think you're going to lose sense of him? You've never lost sense of him in the past."

"Yes, I did," Haruo countered as he stopped squirming in Tenzou's hold and met Tenzou's gaze with haunted eyes. "I felt him die when he took my place in the girly-boy's stupid ice trap. And then… and then when I finally woke up again, I couldn't feel him at all unless I was touching him. I don't like it when the world is cold and dark. I don't ever want to not feel Naruto again."

Tenzou bit back a sigh as he immediately realized why his son was clinging so tightly to Naruto at the moment; the nine year old couldn't separate what had happened that day on the bridge from what was happening now. The brief period of time he spent unable to sense any chakra after he'd regained consciousness had only compounded the matter and made him question his ability to sense others. He also knew that the issue had the potential to evolve into a much bigger mess if they didn't nip it in the bud now.

_I'm going to kill Kakashi for taking my son on that stupid mission but first, I have to somehow re-instill a measure of confidence into my son_, Tenzou silently promised himself as he settled Haruo on his hip as he continued towards the kitchen. He hadn't taken more than two steps before his son was squirming in his arms in yet another attempt to get away and Tenzou swallowed another sigh before he quietly ordered, "Haruo, stop."

"Put me down! I don't want to leave Naruto!"

"No, I will not put you down. I'm not taking you away from Naruto; we're simply going to sit in the kitchen," Tenzou retorted as he exited the living room and crossed the apartment's small entry hallway in order to enter the kitchen. He headed straight for the sink and lightly plunked his son down on the counter beside the sink and snagged hold of his son's chin as he added, "And don't even think about using your new little teleport trick to return to the living room."

Haruo crossed his arms and directed a pouting glare at Tenzou in response to the order but Tenzou ignored it as he turned on the hot water and fished out a wash cloth. His son began twitching just two seconds later and it was impossible to miss the way the kid was steadily trying to inch his way along the counter in the direction of the living room. Once the water had heated up, he got the cloth wet and wrung out the excess water before he washed the dirt from Haruo's face. The nine year old spluttered indignantly over being treated like a baby but at least he was no longer quite so focused on his absent friend.

"Now, close your eyes and tell me who is in the apartment," Tenzou quietly ordered after he'd finished washing his son's hands off.

Haruo scowled at him but readily complied and after a few seconds of just sitting there with his eyes closed and his nose scrunched up in concentration, he answered, "I can feel you standing right next to me and Naruto is in the living room with Kakashi-sensei and Tokage-san."

"Does Naruto's chakra signature feel like it's disappearing at all?"

"No."

"What about my chakra signature? Is it disappearing?" Tenzou replied as he purposefully suppressed his chakra in order to hide his presence and Haruo immediately flinched in response to the loss.

"Sensei-nii!" Haruo frantically gasped as his eyes flew open in a panic while his hands reached out to clutch at Tenzou as if afraid he would disappear.

"Stop panicking and focus on what you feel, Haruo," Tenzou quietly ordered as he peeled Haruo's hands free of his uniform and held them snugly in his hands. He then slowly released his chakra until his presence was no longer hidden before he suppressed it again. Haruo flinched again but before his panic could take hold of him a second time, Tenzou firmly instructed, "Close your eyes and just concentrate on my chakra signature."

Over the course of the next ten minutes, Tenzou repeatedly suppressed and released his chakra until Haruo stopped flinching each time his signature all but winked out of existence. At the end of those ten minutes, Haruo was bonelessly leaning against Tenzou with his face pressed into his shoulder and Tenzou almost felt guilty for forcing his son to get over his fear of feeling another's chakra signature 'disappear' from his senses. The only reason he didn't feel any guilt was the fact that it would have been far crueler to allow his son to drown in his fear and doubt.

His son was also no where near cured of his fear and doubts; that would take time and repeated exposure to 'vanishing' chakra signatures (both when his son was expecting it and most especially when he _wasn't_ expecting it).

Heaving a mental sigh, Tenzou draped his left arm over his son's shoulders in a half hug while he ruffled the boy's messy hair with is right hand. Haruo uttered a half-hearted protest against the hair-ruffling but snuggled deeper into Tenzou's embrace instead of pushing away. The young captain felt more than a little relief that his son hadn't chosen to be angry with him for both forcibly pulling him away from Naruto or for the terrible memories that the past ten minutes of 'immersion therapy' undoubtedly stirred. Though, he'll probably be pranked for it later.

"Are you going to be alright, Haruo?" Tenzou inquired after another minute had passed and Haruo hadn't made any attempts to wriggle free of his embrace. Haruo tentatively gave an aborted half-nod before he shrugged his shoulders and nodded a second time with a little less hesitation. Tenzou hummed an acknowledgement before he stated, "We'll work on that when I'm not on duty. In the mean time; can you tell me where Naruto is right now?"

"The bathroom," Haruo replied almost before Tenzou finished asking the question.

"Tokage…?"

"He's not in the apartment any longer."

"And Kakashi…?"

"He's standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Are you going to go back to hitting him now?"

Tenzou snorted as he glanced over his shoulder in time to see his former captain wince in response to the question before he dryly replied, "No, I'll finish expressing my displeasure with your idiotic sensei later. Right now, you and I need to sit down and have a serious discussion about that temper of yours."

Haruo let out a soft groan of dismay as he peeled his face off of Tenzou's uniform so he look Tenzou in the eye as he asked (more like whined), "Do we have to?"

"Yes, we do."

Haruo sighed heavily and slumped back against Tenzou's chest with a soft thud and if the discussion he needed to have with his son wasn't so serious, Tenzou would have been amused by his son's rather melodramatic reaction. Scooping the nine year old off of the counter, Tenzou transferred him to a kitchen chair before he glanced over to where Kakashi was leaning against the door frame watching them. He was half tempted to kick the older man out while he scolded his son but figured it would be far too petty of him to do so.

Besides, letting the jerk go now would only mean that he'd have to hunt him down to beat the shit out of him for his poor judgment when it came to choosing age and experience appropriate missions later.

Returning his attention to his son, Tenzou pulled off his ANBU mask and prompted, "You can start by explaining why you felt it necessary to escalate a confrontation with your teammate in the middle of your mission right after your team had encountered a pair of dangerous missing nin."

"Sasuke-teme was being a douche-bag to Naruto and Sakura," Haruo began only for Tenzou to hold up his hand to cut his son off as he felt a headache coming on in response to what he'd just heard his son call his teammate.

"What did you just call your teammate?"

"Ano…. a teme…?"

"No, I distinctly heard you call him something else."

"A… um… douche-bag?"

"That's what I thought you said," Tenzou calmly stated as he gave his son an unimpressed look. "And who, might I ask, taught you that particular term?"

"Ano… Zabuza-teme?"

"Ah, I see. And why would you think it was a good idea to repeat anything you heard from a missing nin's mouth?"

"Um… it sounded cool and insulting?" Haruo tentatively asked as he fidgeted nervously in his chair and Tenzou palmed his face in exasperation.

"Do you even know what it means?"

"Er, no…? Is it really bad?"

"It's not the worst thing I've heard come out of your mouth over the years but it is highly inappropriate for you to call your teammate a douche-bag just because you don't like him," Tenzou stoically explained as he peeked through his fingers to meet his son's gaze. "So, I'd better not hear you calling anyone that again; understood?"

"Hai, sensei-nii," Haruo agreed a little too quickly and Tenzou sent a glare in Kakashi's direction as he mentally blamed the older Jounin for his son being in a position to have his innocence further corrupted by Momochi.

"Good. Go ahead and finish your explanation… without any further insults!"

"Hai, sensei-nii. Ano, Sasuke was being a jerk to Naruto and when Sakura told them to stop fighting, Sasuke made like he was going to hit her for standing up to him. So, I told him to leave her alone and he grabbed me before he put me in a choke hold. Naruto didn't like that and I was worried that Naruto might get in trouble if he hurt Sasuke so I broke free and my mahou lashed out at him at the same time because being choked like that reminded me of Mizuki-teme. Kakashi-sensei broke things up before anything else happened at that point."

"And what would have happened if a hidden enemy had attacked you and your client the moment the four of you started fighting amongst yourselves?" Tenzou asked in a stern tone as he dropped his hand away from his face so he could fully focus on his son once more.

Haruo immediately opened his mouth to reply only for him to flinch and snap his mouth shut instead as the blood drained from his face. Tenzou suspected that his son had been about to claim that he would have sensed anyone trying to sneak up on them before something he remembered from the mission made him realize that his chakra sensing ability was not infallible. That was a harsh lesson that all chakra sensors learned at some point in their life; usually at the cost of their life or the life of a teammate.

It was a lesson that Tenzou had originally intended to teach Haruo in a controlled environment to reduce the risk of him being seriously injured during the lesson. Tenzou could readily admit that he'd dropped the ball on that lesson; he'd been far too concerned with increasing his son's chakra reserves in the wake of the Mizuki Incident. Up until now, he'd also foolishly believed that he'd have more than enough time to teach Haruo not to rely so heavily on his ability to sense chakra before he left the village on his first C Rank Mission.

Tenzou's attention was drawn back to his son at that moment as Haruo curled in on himself as he whispered, "We could have failed the mission or died because we weren't paying attention."

"That's not even touching on the damage you could've done to Konoha's reputation by fighting on a mission in front of your client regardless of where you were or what was happening," Tenzou pointed out since there was no need for him to explain the potential risks of being distracted on a mission since it was obvious that Haruo understood those well enough on his own. "From the moment you first tied your hitai-ate on your forehead, you became a representative of the village and your words and deeds reflect on the village as a result."

"I know that."

"And yet you allowed yourself to get drawn into a petty fight with your teammate while on a mission. Even worse, you allowed yourself to be goaded into losing your temper to the point where you nearly blew your own cover. And for what? A childish grudge between you and your teammate!?"

"I did blow my cover," Haruo corrected in a tiny voice as he pulled his legs up onto the chair with him in an attempt to make himself even smaller.

"Your reaction to your enemy placing Naruto in a death-like state is excusable; your loss of control in your confrontation with Sasuke is not," Tenzou countered as he tried not to cringe at the mere thought of even a rumor of Haruo's existence reaching Orochimaru's ears. The twenty-six year old sighed a moment later before he explained, "It's not even about you using your mahou or Mokuton in front of your teammates; it's about you using either of them out in the open while outside of the protection of the village. It's dangerous to recklessly flaunt your abilities like that because there are far too many people out there that would gladly kidnap you or kill you if they even suspected what you were capable of doing."

"I realize that it will be impossible to hide your abilities forever but the longer you hide them, the more time you'll have to grow strong enough to protect yourself from those that would harm or exploit you. This time, you were lucky; there weren't that many people who saw you use your Mokuton and it doesn't appear that those who witnessed what your mahou did on the bridge understood what it was they had seen at the time since there are no rumors about you floating around at the moment. That could change at any moment though."

"Zabuza and Haku both know and remember what you did," Kakashi quietly interjected and Tenzou felt a spike of annoyance as he recalled the fact that Kakashi was the one that spared the lives of the two aforementioned witnesses.

"Does that mean you're going to kill them to keep them from telling anyone else about Haruo?" Naruto inquired in an uncomfortable tone as he hesitantly slipped into the kitchen.

"That's not my decision to make," Tenzou replied without turning away from his son and without giving away the fact that he would much prefer to permanently silence both individuals since he wasn't certain how either boy would take such a confession from him.

"I wanted to kill them," Haruo flatly revealed as he glanced up at Tenzou with dull green eyes. "I wanted to hurt them and make them suffer and I wanted them to die because I thought they'd taken my Naruto away and the stupid no-brow jerk was going to take Kakashi-jiji away too. I hate them."

"You are not, under any circumstances, to ever go hunting for either one of them," Tenzou ordered as just the thought of his son attempting to face down Zabuza when the missing nin was at full strength chilled him to the bone.

"Don't wanna; don't ever wanna see their stupid, ugly mugs again. Stupid ass-hats."

"Enough with the foul language," Tenzou ordered automatically as he sent Haruo an annoyed look in response to hearing him use the familiar insult that his son had learned from a bully at age seven. "Or I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap again."

"Gomen, sensei-nii," Haruo mumbled but even a blind man could have seen that the gaki was far from repentant over his use of the coarse insult.

"Are you done yelling at Haruo now, Koneko-chan? It's been far too long since we've had any ramen, dattebayo! So, if you're not done, can you hurry up so we can go to Ichiraku's?"

"Neither one of you are going anywhere tonight," Tenzou flatly announced. "As part of your punishment for fighting on a mission; the two of you are hereby grounded for the next week. And that means no Ichiraku's and no ramen for the next seven days!"

"No! You can't do that!" Naruto indignantly countered loudly as he stared at Tenzou in horror.

"I can and I did and you will both obey that order or I will fix it so that no one in the village will sell either of you any ramen for a full month."

"That's not fair," Haruo complained as he frowned at Tenzou while Naruto dramatically collapsed into a pool of offended orange on the floor and Tenzou nearly snorted in response to their reactions to the punishment.

"Suck it up; you both goofed up and this is part of your punishment."

"What do you mean only part? Isn't it enough that you're taking our precious ramen away!?" Naruto demanded as he lifted his head up just enough that he could scowl at Tenzou.

"You're not going to take my garden away too, are you?" Haruo worriedly asked on the heels of Naruto's question.

"No, I'm not going to take your garden away," Tenzou answered without any hesitation; he wasn't cruel enough to take Haruo's beloved garden from him – he was _not_ a Dursley. "You're not going to be allowed to add anything new to it for the next week though; and that means I'll be holding onto the figs and ivy cuttings I brought back with me. You're also not going to be allowed to use your Mokuton to revive any of the plants that did not survive your extended absence until after your reserves have fully recovered because I'm not about to let you risk depleting your reserves yet again."

Haruo pouted at him in response to that but Tenzou wasn't about to budge on the matter; Haruo's health was far more important than his happiness (or his garden) at the moment and restricting his extracurricular activities while he was grounded would hopefully make the kid think before he acted the next time he got angry.

"The two of you are also no longer allowed to prank Sasuke outside of spars during our team training sessions. Nor will you be allowed to add any more of your little prank traps to the obstacle course in the future," Kakashi added in a no-nonsense tone that kept both boys from protesting against the added punishment. "Furthermore, the two of you will be spending your afternoons at the Academy helping the Chuunin Instructors with their lessons for the next week. And, Naruto, you're not allowed to wear a single speck of orange while you are grounded. Nor are you allowed to initiate or plan _any_ pranks for the next week."

"NANI!?" Naruto bellowed as he practically exploded off the floor in shock. "What do you mean I can't wear orange or plan out future pranks!?"

"Maybe next time you want to taunt and insult Sasuke while we're on a mission, you'll stop and think of the potential consequences before you open your mouth," Kakashi drawled in a pointed tone. "You didn't think I was going to allow you to get away with baiting him like you did, did you?"

"Man, this sucks."

"Punishment is supposed to suck; otherwise it wouldn't be called punishment," Tenzou dryly stated as he gave the two indignant Genin a flat look.

"What about Sasuke? The teme was the one who started it all by being a jerk after I saved him from those two weirdoes that were hiding in that fake puddle on the way to Nami."

"You don't need to worry about Sasuke; his punishment is between him and me," Kakashi replied as he calmly met Naruto's angry gaze. "You wouldn't want me to go around telling Sasuke about what your punishment involved so don't expect me to tell you his either. Suffice it to say that he will be punished as well and leave it at that."

"You're not going to punish Sakura-chan, are you, Kakashi-sensei?" Haruo nervously asked as he glanced between Naruto and their sensei several times.

"No, Sakura didn't do anything wrong."

"Any other questions…?" Tenzou asked when neither boy spoke up in the wake of Kakashi's negative response. "No? Then the two of you best go get washed up and changed into something clean while I start supper."

The two boys slunk out of the kitchen with their tails between their legs a heartbeat later and Tenzou waited until he sensed them reach their bedroom before he let out an explosive sigh and raked his hands through his hair in an effort to calm himself down. He then began pulling out everything he'd need to make a quick stir-fry.

"Well, it would seem you have everything well in hand here, so I'm just going to head home now," Kakashi casually announced as he began edging towards the nearest window the moment the silver-haired shinobi realized the two of them had been left alone.

Tenzou wasn't about to let the jerk out of his sight though and he reflexively launched a pair of kunai at the older Jounin in order to stop him in his tracks before he turned his head to give the man an unimpressed look as he ordered, "Don't even think about it; I'm not done with you yet, sempai." He then gave Kakashi a creepy grin as he added, "You really _don't_ want to make me hunt you down just to finish our earlier discussion, sempai."

"I knew I should've gone home to update my will first," Kakashi muttered under his breath as he dropped the two kunai that Tenzou had thrown at him onto the table before he reluctantly began helping with supper.

"You should've taken care of that _before_ you dragged my son within a hundred miles of the Kirigakure no Kijin."

"I didn't even know Gato had hired Zabuza until after we reached Nami and came face to face with the bastard."

"Bullshit, Kakashi; we both know that you knew exactly who you'd be dealing with the moment you recognized the Oni Kyoudai."

"I suspected we might run into him but I didn't know for certain that he'd be there until he ambushed us," Kakashi countered tiredly. "Even then, I could've easily dealt with him during that first confrontation if it wasn't for his little tool interfering at the last minute."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better about Haruo nearly dying _again_!?"

"_No, but there's nothing you can say or do that could make me feel any worse than I already do about how that mission turned out_," Kakashi countered more than a little bitterly as he dropped back into Spanish in response to the sound of a pair of footsteps approaching and Tenzou felt a little of his anger fade away in face of Kakashi's obvious regret.

Not all of it, mind you; he was still very pissed at his former captain and he'd kick his ass around the training ground a time or two later. But, he no longer felt an immediate need to skin the man alive and leave his rotting carcass for the buzzards to pick clean.

Besides, the Jounin had managed to bring Haruo home in one piece despite the fact that the mission had gone to hell.

And there was really no one else he'd trust with his son's life (aside from himself) in that kind of situation.

Not that that made him feel any better about what had happened.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Demo – but  
Kirigakure no Kijin – Demon of the Mist (Zabuza)  
Oni Kyoudai – the Demon Brothers (Gouzu and Meizu)

**Notes:**

Punishments – it was very difficult to come up with proper punishments for both Naruto and Haruo as I had to take into consideration their individual 'crimes/mistakes', their ages, their temperaments, their occupation, and their current quasi-guardians (Tenzou for Haruo &amp; Kakashi for Naruto, obviously). I also didn't want their punishments to be too harsh or too soft for obvious reasons and I hope I managed to find the middle ground with the direction I chose to go in; since I took something from all three boys (though Sasuke's full punishments won't be revealed until later in the arc, or possibly in the next arc – not sure yet).

The total punishments they earned are:

Docked Mission Pay – Naruto, Haruo &amp; Sasuke were each docked on 1 full rank's pay (I.E. they performed an A Rank Mission but only got paid for a B Rank Mission); assigned by Hokage  
Mission Restrictions – Team 7 limited to D Ranks only until they improve their teamwork; assigned by Hokage  
Ramen Ban – 7 day ban on all ramen for Naruto &amp; Haruo (Poor Naruto); assigned by Tenzou  
Orange Ban – 7 day ban on all orange for Naruto; assigned by Kakashi  
Prank Restriction – Naruto is not allowed to plan any pranks for 7 days; assigned by Kakashi  
Prank Reduction – Naruto &amp; Haruo are no longer allowed to prank Sasuke outside of spars or seed the obstacle course w/ their pranks; assigned by Kakashi  
Garden Restrictions – Haruo not allowed to add new plants or revive dead plants in his garden; assigned by Tenzou  
Community Service – boys are required to work at the Academy for 4 hours per day for one week; assigned by Kakashi

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	30. Nightmares and Friendships

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty: Nightmares and Friendships

_May 18, 1990, 4:02 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo jerked awake in a complete panic with a strangled scream on his lips. It was only the comforting and soothing heat of the sun that was Naruto's chakra signature burning right next to him that washed the fear from his mind and let him know that he'd just had a nightmare. Letting out an explosive sigh that sounded more like a whimpering whine to his ears, Haruo flopped back down on the bed beside his best friend and tried to calm his racing heart even as he reached up to scrub the tears from his face.

"Want to talk about it?"

The sound of his father's voice speaking up so unexpectedly from out of the air beside him had Haruo jumping off the bed with a squeal of fright. He'd been so wrapped up in the nightmare that had woken him up that he hadn't even known his father was in the room with him! Strong arms snagged him out of the air before he tumbled to the floor or landed on the still sleeping Naruto and Haruo blushed bright red when he realized he'd just panicked like a little girl. The blood then immediately drained from his face as he finally registered what his father had asked him and he shook his head no.

He didn't want to talk about the terrible nightmare he'd just had.

Instead, he buried his face in the crook of his father's neck and shuddered as he recalled the horrible dream he'd been having. It was even worse than the old nightmare he used to have about the laughing green light that had once haunted his dreams back when he'd stilled lived with the Dursleys and even after he'd first been brought to Konoha. Worse than his memories of the Dursleys too and he'd already mostly forgotten the miserable people that had his father had saved him from six years ago.

"When you're ready to talk about it, I'll be here to listen," Kuma quietly murmured into his ear as he carried Haruo out of the bedroom and through the rest of the apartment to the kitchen where two mugs of hot chocolate were waiting on the table. "In the mean time, I made some hot chocolate when I felt your chakra spiking wildly just a short while before you woke up."

Kuma set him down in front of one of the mugs of steaming chocolate a split second later and Haruo blinked up at his father a couple of times before he latched onto the warm mug. He then took a tentative sip of his hot chocolate (carefully testing the temperature lest he burn his tongue). His father dropped down into the chair beside him a moment later and Haruo idly wondered if he was going to get yet another lecture from him; Kuma hadn't even brought up the fact that he'd exhausted himself twice over twice during his recent mission, after all.

The two of them would sit there in near silence for the next half an hour; Haruo slowly nursing his hot chocolate in an attempt to put off whatever lecture his father might feel he needed. He was so wrapped up in pretending that he wasn't dawdling that he failed to see the faint amused smile (tinged though it was with slight regret, bitterness, and guilt) that his father wore on his face in response to his antics. Of course, the silence and his avoidance of the next round of scolding that he feared he would get left him wide open to his memories and his nightmares.

It wasn't long after he'd downed the last ounce of his hot chocolate that Haruo was shivering in his chair as he got lost in that moment on the bridge when he'd felt Naruto's chakra get snuffed out. Only, instead of him remembering it as a short period of time, his nightmares had painted it as an eternity of freezing darkness in which there was no sun. That nightmarish memory also bled into his faint memories of living with the Dursleys; back at a time when he hadn't even known that the sun (which in his mind was the bright spot that was his friend) even existed.

"Haruo, calm down; you are safe," Kuma's voice jarred Haruo back to the present at the same time as a hand landed on his head and Haruo started as he found himself suddenly looking into his father's concerned brown eyes.

Haruo pulled his eyes away from the man a moment later as he searched the kitchen for a familiar bewhiskered blond and he felt as if a large hand had seized hold of his heart and squeezed it flat when he couldn't find Naruto. He shook off his father's hand and made a single attempt to bolt from the room in order to hunt down his missing friend only to find himself wrapped up in his father's arms before his feet could even touch the ground. The nine year immediately tried to squirm free; he needed to find his sun because he was afraid of the dark.

"Haruo, calm down," Kuma repeated as he tucked Haruo against his chest and held him securely in place.

"Naruto!"

"Haruo, you need to stop panicking; just close your eyes, take a couple of deep breaths, and open up your senses and you will find him right where we left him."

Haruo slowly ceased struggling and grudgingly obeyed his father's soft instructions and immediately felt Naruto's chakra signature light up his senses now that he was no longer blocking it out in his panic. The woodsy feel of his father's chakra signature (filled with the impression of rich loam, decaying leaves, and fresh cut wood) slid into place right beside him a heartbeat later. The tension was leeched out of Haruo in the same instant; the world once again filled with warmth, light, and comfort to his senses.

"Are you going to be alright now, musuko?"

"Hai, sensei-nii," Haruo murmured against his father's chest as he shamelessly snuggled with the man.

Kuma hummed a wordless acknowledgment in response to Haruo's reply before he asked, "Do you think you're ready to crawl back into bed for another couple of hours or did you want to start the day early?"

"Are you going to give me another lecture about the dangers of chakra exhaustion if I say I don't want to go back to sleep?" Haruo worriedly demanded as he tried and failed to hold back a shudder at the thought of going back to sleep and getting trapped in another nightmare.

"Do you need me to give you another lecture on the dangers of chakra exhaustion?" Kuma countered as he leaned back in his chair and shifted Haruo so he could look the nine year old in the eye.

"Ano… no…? I hadn't forgotten it's dangerous and I was careful. I only used the earth pressing exercise to shield us because we were supposed to protect Tazuna and it was the best way to get him out of the way so Kakashi-sensei could fight Zabuza without worrying about him. And… and the second time I used it, Kakashi-sensei had helped me set up the linked storage scrolls filled with earth natured chakra charged dirt so that I didn't waste as much chakra pulling up the dirt and smushing it flat all at once. I only exhausted myself that time because… because of what the ice-teme did to Naruto and I was so angry I didn't think about what I was doing."

"So long as you're aware of the dangers and don't take any more needless risks or allow yourself to become lost in your anger again, then I don't see any reason to give you another lecture on the risks of draining your chakra reserves to dangerously low levels. However, you do know that there will be consequences for exhausting yourself repeatedly in such a short amount of time, ne?"

Haruo's lower lip curled out in a pout as he complained, "Nani? You can't ground me again! You and Kakashi both already grounded me for a whole week!"

"Wrong kind of consequences, Haruo-kun," Kuma retorted with a soft snort. "I was referring to the fact that your chakra reserves were forcefully expanded as a result of you pushing yourself to extreme exhaustion twice in such a short amount of time. I'm sure you also noted that your chakra control has suffered over the past month; part of that is the fact that you've gone so long without doing any of your chakra control exercises, another part is because your reserves have grown, and the rest is potentially a result of you unlocking another level of your Mokuton."

"What do you mean I unlocked another level of the Mokuton?" Haruo inquired in confusion as he checked to see if he could sense anything different with his Mokuton. "I thought there was only level to our Kekkei Genkai."

"Apparently, our Kekkei Genkai is unlocked in stages; something I hadn't known because my Mokuton was forcefully activated to the fullest extent all at once," Kuma replied after a brief hesitation and Haruo found himself wondering why his father always seemed so hesitant when he spoke about his Mokuton. "As for the new level you supposedly unlocked; tell me, do you remember what happened when you snapped after Naruto was forced into a death-like stage?"

"A bunch of beams of wood burst out of my back and chest," Haruo answered as he brought his arms up to press his hands against his chest as he vividly remembered what it felt like to have a dozen extra 'arms' of wood.

"Precisely; I expect that the trouble you were having in your attempts to transform your chakra directly into beams of wood will be a thing of the past now that you've awakened that facet of your Mokuton. Once we've brought your chakra control back up to its previous levels, I'll work with you on growing the beams at will. Until then, I don't want you to even think about experimenting with growing beams on your own; there's too large of a risk that you might deplete your reserves again if you aren't careful."

"What happens if I can't grow the beams again? What if it was just my mahou doing that?"

"Either way, I wouldn't worry about it right now," Kuma firmly stated as he lightly flicked Haruo on the nose. "Whether you can make beams of wood out of pure chakra or not isn't going to change anything."

Haruo wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction over that response before he reluctantly nodded to show he understood what his father was trying to tell him. And he did. Understand that is. His father wasn't going to think less of him if he wasn't able to fully utilize his Mokuton to the same extent that his father could. That didn't mean that Haruo was at all happy about the possibility that he might lack some fundamental quality that prevented him from fully mastering the Mokuton. Even before he knew that his father was his father, he'd wanted to make the man proud of him by properly learning everything he offered to teach Haruo.

He didn't ever want the man to regret taking him away from the Dursleys.

"So, since you don't have to think of ways to skip out on another boring lecture on how to be a responsible shinobi; does that mean you're going to stay up instead of trying to get a few more hours of sleep?" Kuma inquired as he tapped Haruo on the nose in order to bring his attention back to him.

"Yeah, I don't… I don't want to have another nightmare."

"Then why don't we move into the living room so I can test your chakra control to see just how much control you've lost in the past five or six weeks."

"Osu," Haruo agreed out of habit even if he wasn't all that interested in training at the moment.

At least working on his chakra control would keep his mind off of his memories and his nightmares.

* * *

_May 18, 1990, 8:16 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Sakura stepped out of the door to her house and carefully locked it behind her before she skipped down the short flight of stairs that led away from the door while tucking her keys into the hidden pocket of her shorts. A bright smile soon plastered itself across her face as she happily headed down the street towards the market district where Ino lived with her parents in the apartment that sat above the flower shop that Ino's father owned.

Today was the day she was going to get her friend back!

At least she hoped today was the day.

It was the day she'd been looking forward to since she had realized that her friendship with Ino was far more important to her than the non-existent affections of a certifiable jerk. It was also a day that she'd been dreading since that same moment. She was very worried that it was far too late to repair the budding friendship that she'd thrown away the day that she'd decided she 'loved' Sasuke more than she cared about a certain blonde's companionship.

Kamisama but she'd been an idiot back then.

Well, it was time to fix that.

_If Ino will even give me a chance to fix it_, Sakura silently despaired as her smile turned brittle in response to the abrupt return of her doubts. Her Inner Sakura then made her presence known as she internally yelled, _We'll make her regret it if she doesn't, SHANNARO!_

Sadly, her Inner's determination to smite an imaginary Ino didn't restore her confidence and Sakura continued to worry over how Ino would react to seeing her today as she wove through the shifting crowds of bustling civilians going about their lives. Actually, Sakura was quite certain that Ino had always been her sole source of confidence and she'd spent her entire time in the Academy constantly chasing after the blonde in an attempt to grab hold of that confidence for herself. Looking back, Sakura couldn't believe how pathetic she'd been as she competed with Ino for the affections of a boy who didn't even know they existed.

Sakura finally let the smile slip from her face as she slowed to a stop in the middle of the street and stared up at the sky while she reflected on how much everything had changed since the day she had earned her hitai-ate.

A soft smile curled the corners of Sakura's mouth up a moment later as her thoughts drifted to her budding friendship with Naruto and Haruo. Now, that was something she could be proud of. She'd made friends with the two boys all on her own without any prompting or goading from Ino. And it felt kind of nice to know that she could go places and do things without Ino needing to be there to move things along. Her only regret was that it had taken her far too long to realize that the two boys could be potential friends.

A frown soon replaced the smile on Sakura's face as she dropped her gaze back down to the ground and began walking once more. She didn't quite understand why she hadn't even bothered to give the two boys a second thought (outside of taking the time to screech at them for some perceived slight) during her years at the Academy. Part of it, she knew, was because her mother had always advised her against going near Naruto each time she'd crossed paths with the blond while in the company of her mother. The one time she'd asked her mother why, all her mother would tell her was that the boy was a bad seed and a nuisance.

Even now, her mother was still unhappy that Sakura had been placed on the same team as Naruto but Sakura could no longer understand why her mother felt that way. Not that she'd ever understood her mother's feelings when it came to the loud and boisterous blond. Funnily enough, that admonishment not to go near Naruto had never actually included Haruo. In fact, Sakura vaguely remembered her mother cooing over the green-eyed boy on at least one occasion; though the details behind the incident escaped her at the moment. Odd that.

Maybe Naruto had pranked her mother when he'd been younger and she'd never forgiven him for it?

Naruto's pranks were rather notorious. Or would that be Haruo and Naruto's pranks?

The two of them were never far apart and it stood to reason that if Naruto was out pranking people, then Haruo was probably right there pranking people with him. Actually, seeing either one of the boys without the other a few feet away was weird. She hadn't really noticed the strangeness during their training sessions prior to the bridge builder's mission, when Kakashi's clone would take Haruo off into the forest for training while the rest of them sparred or ran the obstacle course because she hadn't really had time to think of anything but her training at the time.

She hadn't been able to _not_ notice during the mission to Nami though.

It had been so weird to see Naruto sitting quietly all alone on the bridge each time Sakura traded places with him to take her turn protecting their client and there had been times when she'd actually felt as if the world had turned itself on its head because the two had spent so much time apart during the entire mission.

Sakura let out a snort in response to her silliness.

She then pushed all thoughts of the two boys out of her mind as she focused on her upcoming meeting with Ino when she turned onto Market Street where the Yamanaka Flower Shop was located. The moment her eyes fell on the familiar yellow building with its pink sign and rows of potted trees and shrubs decorating the front, Sakura's feet stumbled to a stop as all of her insecurities suddenly rose up to choke her. The moment of reckoning had arrived and Sakura just didn't know if she could actually go through with it now that she was practically standing in front of Ino's home.

Oddly enough, it was the memory of Naruto (of all people) telling her that it was never too late to make up with a friend that drove Sakura to swallow her fear and begin walking again. She faltered again two steps later when she realized she was once again taking courage from another.

Didn't she have any courage of her own?

Was she really this weak?

_Hell NO!_ Inner Sakura belted out as Sakura stubbornly set her jaw and began stalking forward.

She wasn't going to let herself be defeated by fear.

Before Sakura knew it (and, if she was honest with herself, before she was ready), Sakura was passing through the entrance of Yamanaka Flowers and stepping into the cool interior as the door bell announced her presence. Her nose was assaulted with more than a hundred different scents two seconds later and Sakura couldn't help but sneeze several times in quick succession as the overpowering array of scents hit her unexpectedly. She'd forgotten just how cloying the air felt inside of the shop since it had been so long since she'd set foot in the shop. It wasn't an unpleasant smell; it was just overpowering because of how many different scents were all meshed together.

"Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers; how may I be of service this morning?" the familiar voice of Yamanaka Inoichi called out from near the back of the shop.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Yamanaka-san; is Ino-chan at home?" Sakura called back in greeting as she made her way along the isle that held an assortment of potted bushes that were covered in a rainbow of brightly colored flowers.

"Ohayou, Sakura-chan," Inoichi warmly replied as he popped up in front of Sakura the moment she reached the end of the row she'd been walking down. "I'm afraid that you just missed my little princess. If I'd known that you were going to turn up this morning to talk to her, I would have warned you that she leaves for her morning training sessions at seven every morning when I finished viewing your memories yesterday."

"Oh, I didn't know she was meeting up with her team so early in the mornings now; I thought they still met up at ten like they had before," Sakura replied rather dully as the knowledge that she'd just wasted her moment of courage because of poor timing filtered into her brain.

"Ah, you're referring to those first two lazy months of training before it was discovered that the Academy Curriculum had been found lacking in several areas. The majority of the Jounin instructors who'd taken teams within the last five years are now pushing their students twice as hard in order to teach them everything they should have learned prior to graduating. The only ones that aren't pushing their students are those instructors whose students had already filled in the holes in their education on their own time."

"We weren't taught things that we were supposed to know before we graduated?" Sakura repeated with a slight frown; her thoughts automatically turning to the weeks of torturous training that Kakashi-sensei had put her team through from the moment they'd been made a team. "Why would they let us graduate if we didn't learn everything we were supposed to learn? Is that why Kakashi-sensei pushed us so hard at first? I thought… I thought I was just behind because I wasn't from a clan. But… Naruto-kun and Haruo-kun aren't from a clan either and they already knew a bunch of stuff that Sasuke and I didn't know before Kakashi-sensei started training us into the ground everyday."

"It might be best if you ask Kakashi for an explanation," Inoichi suggested after he'd spent two long minutes studying Sakura. "He undoubtedly had his reasons for not saying anything to you sooner and it's not my place to second guess those reasons."

"Oh… okay, Yamanaka-san. Ano, can you tell me what time Ino is usually finished with her team training? And does her sensei still give her the entire weekend off?"

"Not until six and no, Team Ten only has Sundays off at the moment."

"Okay, thank you," Sakura murmured as she turned to leave.

"I'll be sure to let Ino know that you stopped by looking for her today."

"Ari… arigatou, Yamanaka-san."

Sakura wandered out of the flower shop in a bit of a daze and more than a little disappointed that she'd been unable to reconnect to Ino today like she'd planned. She also felt a little frustrated because she didn't think she'd get a chance to try and catch up with Ino again until Sunday because her mother will want her home for supper each night during her week off due to how little time she'd spent at home since she'd graduated from the Academy. Not that she really minded spending time with her parents; she had missed them too. She just wished her mother would be a little less fussy about it.

Once outside, Sakura stood and stared at nothing as she tried to figure out what she was going to do now. She wasn't ready to go home yet and their team wasn't going to be doing any team training during their week off; which was why she'd gone looking for Ino in the first place. After a few minutes, she picked a random direction and just began walking in the hopes that it would help her clear her mind.

The pink-haired pre-teen felt more than a little bored and out of sorts as she aimlessly wandered through village. She never thought she'd actually miss Kakashi's grueling training sessions yet here she was half wishing that her sensei had chosen to resume their normal training schedule during their week of vacation just to have something to do. Actually, it was more the fact that she was alone than it was that she wasn't doing anything. She'd grown so used to spending time with her teammates that not having them around felt rather weird.

In fact, she'd gotten so used to seeing her teammates day in and day out that even now she was projecting their faces onto the people around her. Why, there was even a pair of boys dressed in somber navy blue shinobi uniforms that looked exactly like Naruto and Haruo! But her teammates never wore anything but their brightly colored jumpsuits; though to be far, Haruo's jumpsuit was no where near as bright or a blinding as Naruto's orange monstrosity. So, the two boys she was looking at couldn't be anything but a hallucination.

"Man, I can't believe we've been grounded for our entire week off, dattebayo!" the blond in blue loudly complained as the pair walked right by Sakura without even looking in her direction. "Evil! Evil is what it is! How could Koneko-chan and Kakashi-sensei even think about keeping us away from the noodle-y goodness that is ramen for an entire week!?"

"Naruto!?" Sakura exclaimed in shock as her teammate's familiar voice and whining complaints hit her with the force of a sledgehammer since she'd been so sure she had been hallucinating. "What on earth are you wearing!?"

"Shh…! Not so loud, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in an exaggerated whisper as the blond whipped his head around in surprise over being recognized. "It's embarrassing enough having to walk around the village like this!"

"Why aren't the two of you wearing your usual jumpsuits?" Sakura demanded as she tried not to stare at the two boys who looked almost completely different without their normal attire.

"Kakashi-sensei won't let me wear any orange, eat any ramen at all, or even plan out any pranks as punishment for fighting with Sasuke-teme during the mission," Naruto complained as the three of them drifted off to one side of the street so that they wouldn't be in the way. "That's on top of the Hokage docking our pay from the mission to Nami and Kakashi-sensei making us help at the Academy and Koneko-chan not letting Haruo add new stuff to his garden."

"Does that mean you aren't allowed to wear your green and brown suit either, Haruo-kun?"

"No, I just didn't want Naruto to feel singled out," Haruo answered with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"The two of you really do do everything together, don't you?" Sakura asked as a bemused little half-smile curled the left side of her mouth up and the two boys just grinned at her in response. Her amusement quickly died as she immediately realized that she could have had the same kind of relationship with Ino all of this time if she hadn't been so stupid when she was younger. Swallowing thickly through her regret, Sakura whispered, "You guys are so lucky to have each other."

There was a few minutes of awkward silence in the wake of that declaration before Naruto stated, "Well, we gotta go, dattebayo. We'll see ya later, Sakura-chan."

"Wait!" Sakura automatically called out the moment the two boys turned to walk away. Both boys turned back to look at her with matching expressions of curiosity and confusion and Sakura stifled the sudden urge she felt to coo over how adorable the two of them looked; like overgrown puppies. That was especially true of Haruo; his vibrant eyes practically glittered in the morning light. She then shook off the strange feeling as she nervously asked, "Do you think… we could maybe hang out or something? I mean… if you two aren't busy, that is."

"Are you sure, Sakura-chan? Wouldn't you rather hang out with Ino now that we're back in the village?"

"She's off training with her team and she won't have time to hang out until Sunday. And… and I'd really like a chance to get to know the two of you better. We didn't really get to spend much time together in Nami because we were on a mission. And… well, it'd be nice to hang out, I guess."

Haruo frowned slightly while Naruto kind of stared at her in shock and Sakura half expected the two of them to blow her off in favor of whatever it was the two of them usually did together. She was just starting to regret asking them to let her tag along with them when the two of them turned to one another and began holding a hushed conversation in that other language that the two of them used when they didn't want anyone to know what they were talking about. She almost felt like she was intruding on them and she nervously bit her lip as she prepared herself to be rejected yet again.

"We're not going to be doing anything special," Haruo tentatively offered once they'd finished their discussion. "We were just going to spend the morning checking on my garden. So, I guess you can come with us if you want to. If you don't mind just hanging out in my garden and stuff, that is."

"No, I don't mind at all," Sakura replied as she gave both boys a blinding smile in response to them being willing to let her tag along with them on such short notice.

"Come on, then; let's go!" Naruto ordered as he grabbed hold of Sakura's hand and began dragging her off in the direction that he and Haruo had been headed in when Sakura had first waylaid them.

Sakura laughed in response to Naruto's enthusiasm as Haruo easily kept pace with them. To Sakura's surprise, they took her, not to their home, but to a mostly forgotten stretch of woods on the outer edges of the village. She was just about to ask them where they were when Haruo took hold of her free hand and pulled her between a pair of old looking trees. For a split second, it felt like there was something trying to push her away from Haruo before the feeling vanished and she suddenly found herself standing on the edge of a vast, messy garden that looked absolutely gorgeous even though it was obvious that a number of the plants had recently died of neglect.

"Oh, it's so beautiful! I didn't even know there was any place like this in Konoha!" Sakura exclaimed as she let her eyes roam over the colorful array of plants that were spread out in front of her. "It looks so wild and colorful; like a rainbow given physical form."

"Thanks, Sakura-sempai," Haruo replied as a pleased blush spread across his face and Sakura was abruptly reminded that the younger boy had called this his garden. "And the reason why almost no one knows my garden is here is because it's hidden behind a special barrier that keeps everyone else out except me, Naruto, sensei-nii, and Inu-chan's team. So, you won't be able to find it or get inside unless I'm here to pull you through the barrier."

"Did you plant all this?"

"Yeah, most of it. Sensei-nii gave me the garden when he brought me to Konoha and he taught me how to take care of the plants and Naruto helped me with the planting and weeding and stuff after we became friends."

"That's so cool."

Haruo beamed at her before he suddenly bounded away into the garden, leaving her alone with Naruto. The blond let out a snort of amusement in response to Haruo's vanishing act before he turned to Sakura and said, "Sorry about that; Haruo has a one-track mind when it comes to his garden and it's been over a month since he's been here. So, we probably won't see much of him for the rest of the morning. If you want, you can hang out with me while I water the dry stuff or you can explore the rest of the garden; just be careful not to step on anything and don't pull anything out. Haruo tends to get really cranky when people mess with his garden without permission."

Sakura would spend the rest of the morning trailing after Naruto (because she was a little nervous about upsetting Haruo on accident) and helping the blond water various parts of the garden. Surprisingly it wasn't boring even though she wasn't really doing much of anything aside from carrying buckets of water but that probably had more to do with the fact that Naruto kept up an unending stream of chatter as they worked. Haruo would pop up every now and then (as if to check and make certain they were still there) but the younger boy never really stopped to talk to them.

Before Sakura knew it, four hours had passed and the three of them were leaving the hidden garden. They would part ways shortly after that; Sakura with an unexpected armload of cut flowers that Haruo had given to her and the two boys with a basket each of fruits and vegetables that Haruo had salvaged. Sakura also walked away with a promise from both boys to hang out with her over the weekend and by the time Sakura reached her home, she'd all but forgotten about her original plans to make up with Ino.

She still planned to rekindle her friendship with her fellow kunoichi, that hadn't changed; she was just no longer quite so focused on (or worried about) that at the moment.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Ano – uh/um/er  
Arigatou – thank you  
Osu – typically used by martial artists in a variety of ways including as a greeting, as an acknowledgement, or as an affirmative

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**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	31. Pint-Sized Rivals

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirty-One: Pint-Sized Rivals

_May 18, 1990, 12:48 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Iruka strode through the halls of the Academy towards the building's entrance with a small smile on his face. He was looking forward to seeing Naruto and Haruo for the first time in months. Part of him missed having the two pranksters in his class; they'd kept him on his toes the last few years. Another part of him was so very proud of both boys for how far they'd come from the little punks they'd been during their Academy years. And then there was that part of him that worried over the two boys now that they were shinobi and hoped the two of them hadn't run into any more trouble of a lethal nature.

The fact that Naruto, Haruo, and Sasuke had been assigned what amounted to community service at the Academy for fighting with each other while on a mission told him they'd found the normal, run-of-the-mill trouble.

A frown pulled the corners of Iruka's mouth down as he recalled the tense rivalry that had developed between the three boys while they'd been in his class. Well, the rivalry had mostly between Sasuke and Naruto but Haruo stood by Naruto in everything and had therefore carried on a mostly unacknowledged (by Sasuke, at least) rivalry with the last Uchiha as well. Based on what he'd learned that morning, that rivalry had turned rather bitter at some point after the three boys had graduated and had grown to fully encompass Haruo as well as Naruto.

The only reason he knew that much was because Funeno Daikoku (one of his fellow instructors) had apparently spent the previous evening at the bar listening to the latest gossip. Daikoku had then spent most of the day complaining to anyone that would listen to him about how Naruto and Haruo were supposedly causing problems for Sasuke on missions and claimed that the boys' assigned Jounin sensei ignored the orphaned prodigy to anyone that would listen. Iruka had a hard time believing that Hatake Kakashi would do such a thing; the older shinobi didn't seem like the type to play favorites.

Daikoku, on the other hand, had always favored Sasuke though.

Actually, most of the instructors that had taught at the Academy during the years that the three boys had attended classes had favored the orphaned Uchiha above the rest of the students. Iruka had striven very hard to treat all of the students he'd taught through the years as equals as a result of that favoritism. Unfortunately, he had pretty much failed in that regards the moment he'd allowed himself to fall prey to Mizuki's genjutsu manipulations. He had not been any where near as cruel or caustic as the other instructors had been to Naruto (and to a far lesser extent, Haruo simply because Haruo had been attached at the hip to the older boy) but he hadn't exactly treated the two boys fairly.

Not that he was blatantly unfair to them either; he'd just been manipulated into turning a blind eye to the full extent of the unfair treatment that Naruto had received from the other instructors but most especially from Mizuki. That wasn't even touching on the deliberate sabotage that had been done to an entire generation's shinobi education for reasons yet unknown. There had been a time when Iruka would have been confident that he would have noticed and easily stopped the borderline bullying that had been taking place right under his nose.

Of course, he also would have prided himself on his ability to detect and disable any genjutsu cast on him.

But, well, his pride had taken a severe beating because he _hadn't_ noticed that Mizuki had frequently been placing him under a genjutsu _before_ he'd been taken to task by an angry Haruo.

It was the knowledge that he'd failed both boys, in a way, that had Iruka determined _not_ to judge the two pranksters (or their current sensei) based on Daikoku's earlier rantings. He knew there was always more than one side to any story and until he knew exactly what was going on, he wasn't going to jump to conclusions. On top of that, neither Iruka nor Daikoku had even heard Sasuke's side of the story from Sasuke's mouth; so it was entirely possible that the rumors that Daikoku had heard were either exaggerated or downplayed what had actually happened.

Iruka also couldn't deny the fact that something had happened; since all of the faculty had been informed that all three boys would be assigned to help out at the Academy for a week as punishment just that morning. Whatever had happened had been serious enough that the hours the three boys would be working at the Academy were staggered; Naruto and Haruo scheduled to work afternoons starting that same day while Sasuke would work mornings starting on Monday.

Iruka hoped to have a chance to supervise one of Sasuke's morning community service sessions at the Academy in order to get his side of the story but suspected he wouldn't get the opportunity due to how many of the other instructors were interested in 'keeping an eye' on the boy. By contrast, none of the other instructors were at all interested in monitoring Naruto's afternoon sessions though there had been a few of the kunoichi that taught classes at the Academy that were willing to supervise Haruo's punishment so long as they didn't have to watch Naruto at the same time.

Splitting the boys up would be the ultimate punishment for the two boys but at the same time, it was highly unlikely that either boy would allow the instructors to separate them. He also suspected that anyone that tried to split them up would be humiliated with a vicious string of pranks the moment they tried and so Iruka had volunteered to watch over both of them to nip that potential disaster in the bud. The other Chuunin Instructors had called him a glutton for punishment for offering to watch over the two boys every afternoon for the week.

Iruka had ignored their taunts and dire warnings; he firmly believed that he had made the right choice in volunteering to supervise the boys. Not only would he have a chance to confirm that both boys were in good health and handling the pressures of a shinobi lifestyle, supervising their punishment would provide him with multiple opportunities to make up his past blunders to the two boys. It also meant that he could prevent the other instructors from making their community service hours harder than they needed to be if they were 'forced' to deal with the two pranksters.

The two friends _had_ annoyed most of the Academy staff enough with their pranks throughout their years at the Academy that the other instructors would undoubtedly go out of their way to pay the two boys back for the headaches they had caused though the years. That was especially true when it came to Naruto simply because the blond had been selected by the Yondaime Hokage to host the Kyuubi in order to save the village from the fox's rampage.

The last thing his decision to supervise Naruto and Haruo's punishment allowed him to do was teach the two boys all of things that they (and their peers) had not been taught while they were still in the Academy (in the event that their Jounin sensei wasn't already doing so). There was actually a considerable amount of knowledge and skills that their generation had not been taught. Iruka had been appalled when he'd learn just how much of the Academy's curriculum had been dropped or ignored over the past decade.

That was something that neither he nor his colleagues had noticed or questioned despite the fact that they themselves had been taught the much more comprehensive original curriculum when they'd attended the Academy.

Some of the discarded topics and skills could be explained away as wartime curriculum that would be considered unnecessary during times of peace but that didn't account for the rest. Survival skills were a necessity in both times of peace and war. As was a solid understanding of the current political climate between the different hidden villages _and_ between the individual nations (regardless of whether or not they were one of the Five Great Nations); it would be far too easy to tip the delicate balance that was the current peace and trigger another war otherwise.

Between determining the full depth of Mizuki's sabotage and determining which dropped topics and skills should have but hadn't been taught over the past decade, Iruka and most of the other instructors had practically lived at the Academy since December. It had been rather tedious work due to the sheer amount of paperwork that had needed to be reviewed. Not to mention the follow up interviews with former students that had needed to be done to determine how many people had been affected by the curriculum changes and the interviews with retired members of the teaching staff to narrow down which instructors were aware of and potentially responsible for implementing the changes.

After they had finished those two tasks (the latter task done with the help of the T and I Dept.), they had been charged to administer a series of comprehensive tests to all Genin that had graduated within the last five years in order to determine if they had managed to learn those things either on their own or from their assigned Jounin sensei. Once tested, those that lacked the necessary knowledge and skills were scheduled to attend remedial lessons with their Jounin sensei or another available Jounin in order to fill in the gaps in their education.

There were only a handful of Genin left to test and once they had been tested, they would start retesting all of those who had been dropped from the Shinobi program over the past five years in order to determine if any of those students that had been failed, should have passed. Those that qualified would then be assimilated into the Shinobi Force and provided with remedial lessons and accelerated training courses in order to get them back into peak condition. That's if those individuals still had any interest in taking up a hitai-ate; since some of them were bound to have moved on after they had been kicked out of the Academy.

Iruka bit back a groan at the thought of how many more tests he would have to mark in the coming weeks. He then pushed all thoughts of his hectic schedule out of his mind as he reached the entrance hall of the Academy and saw his favorite two little delinquents slipping through the front door. The scarred Chuunin paused a split second later when he noticed what the two boys were wearing. It was more than a little odd to see the two boys in shinobi blue when they had worn their colorful jumpsuits for as long as he could remember; Naruto in orange and Haruo in green.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto loudly greeted as the two boys bounded over to him the moment they caught sight of him; the blond's loud voice drawing the young instructor out of his musings.

"Good afternoon, boys," Iruka warmly greeted in return as he smiled at the two Genin. "It's good to see the both of you again; though, I would have been far happier if the two of you weren't here because you'd gotten in trouble while on a mission."

Haruo blushed and half ducked behind Naruto in shame in response to Iruka's light admonishment but Naruto scowled up at him and belligerently countered, "Yeah, well, it's not our fault that Sasuke is a real dick all the time."

"Language, Naruto-kun," Iruka lightly chastised out of habit before he ushered the two boys towards the hallway that led out to the Academy's exercise yard. "There's absolutely no need for you to call your teammate names."

"I only calls it like I sees it, dattebayo!" Naruto fired right back. "The teme is a dick. He's the one that started picking fights while we were on the mission. Hell, he's constantly picking fights while we're training too! Just because he can't handle the fact that Haruo and I are better than him."

"Naruto…"

"It's true, Iruka-sensei," Haruo quietly interrupted before Iruka could lecture Naruto. "Naruto and I were taught a bunch of stuff that didn't get taught at the Academy and because we know those things, Uchiha-teme hates us because no one taught him the same things. He also hates the fact that Naruto and I know a bunch of advanced chakra control exercises that he doesn't know and he can't stand the fact that Kakashi-sensei won't tech him the more advanced exercises until he masters the lower level stuff. He's even madder that Kakashi-sensei won't teach him a bunch of high level jutsu."

"Tch, all the teme cares about is power and killing some guy," Naruto added in a disgusted tone.

"Okay, I'll hold off on the lecture for now," Iruka offered as he considered what he knew about the person that Sasuke likely wished to kill. He also filed away the information that Haruo and Naruto had potentially been taught some of the material that had been erroneously (or maliciously) dropped from the Academy curriculum; he'd have to look into that once the Academy let out for the day. "Tell you what; I'll treat the two of you to super tonight and you can tell me the entire story over ramen so that I can see your side of the story."

"Can't," Naruto petulantly complained to Iruka's surprise; the blond _never_ turned down free ramen. "We're not allowed to have ramen for a whole week!"

"And sensei-nii is expecting us home for supper tonight," Haruo added rather glumly.

"Ne, ne, Iruka-sensei; you could come home with us and we can make you supper instead," Naruto excitedly countered and Iruka felt rather surprised by the sudden offer; he had half expected Haruo to still be holding a grudge against him for initially failing Naruto during the Graduation Exam. "Well, Haruo would be the one to do most of the work… unless Koneko-chan decides to do the cooking tonight instead. I'm not that good at cooking things." The blond then leaned closer to Haruo in order to stage whisper, "If Iruka-sensei's there, then maybe Koneko-chan won't feel the need to give us another boring lecture."

"Or I could help him give you a few lectures on proper conduct," Iruka suggested in exasperation over the fact that the prankster was attempting to use him to get out of what sounded like a well deserved sermon about proper behavior. At least he now knew why the boys had been so willing to invite him over for supper.

"Sensei-nii already said he wasn't going to give me any more lectures."

"When did Koneko-chan tell you that?"

"Earlier this morning before you woke up."

"How come you didn't wake me up when you got up like you usually do?"

"Sensei-nii dragged me off to the kitchen right after I woke up."

"Nightmares again?" Naruto asked so quietly that Iruka thought maybe he'd misheard the blond.

"Aa," Haruo muttered as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and slowed down so that he was trailing two steps behind Naruto instead of walking beside him.

"Gomen, Haruo."

"Not your fault, 'Ruto," Haruo countered as he lunged forward to wrap his arms around Naruto. "I blame the stupid ice-teme and the no-brow creep he served."

"Who are the ice-teme and the no-brow creep?" Iruka as curiously as he stepped around the pair in order to open the door leading out into the training yard.

"Zabuza is the no-brow creep and the ice-teme is the girlie-boy, Haku," Naruto answered and Iruka immediately nodded an acknowledgement before he froze as his mind finally registered the first name.

"Zabuza!? As in Momochi Zabuza, the Kirigakure no Kijin!?"

"Yeah, we had to fight him on our last mission," Naruto answered and Iruka stopped breathing at the thought of four fresh Genin facing such a powerful Jounin. "Haruo captured him and his side-kick after his side-kick sorta-kinda killed me when I stopped him from sorta-kinda killing Haruo and we had to drag them back to the village with us."

Iruka felt the blood drain from his face as he snapped his head back around to stare at the two boys in shock and he half feared that his heart might explode as he vividly pictured the night when Haruo had almost died protecting Naruto from a traitorous _Chuunin_. He wanted to rant and rave at the two boys but restrained himself (just barely) due to the fact that his class was waiting for them in the training yard at the moment. He also felt their new _sensei_ deserved to be yelled at first; since the two boys would have had very little control over what mission they took.

"You know, I think I will take you up on your offer to join the two of you for supper tonight, Naruto-kun," Iruka stated as he forced himself to remain calm. "I believe that Haruo said Kakashi was going to be there as well, ne?"

"Chigau, I said sensei-nii is going to be there," Haruo corrected with a shake of his head. "Though, you probably know him as Kuma."

It took Iruka a moment to place the name, or rather the code name, as the cat-masked ANBU that had claimed Haruo as his son back in December. He then nodded to show he understood who Haruo was referring to. Iruka then focused on Naruto as he instructed, "Naruto, please send a Kage Bunshin to let your Jounin sensei know that I _invited_ him to join us tonight."

The two boys shared a look before a single clone appeared in a burst of smoke before it took off to carry out its assigned task.

"Thank you," Iruka murmured as he steered the boys out of the building so they could start the afternoon lesson. "Now, we've wasted enough time catching up with one another and we have an entire class waiting for their afternoon taijutsu lesson."

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_May 18, 1990, 1:11 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Naruto silently stood beside Iruka-sensei as the man addressed the crowd of kids that had been waiting for them; his thoughts firmly revolving around Haruo. It bothered him that he hadn't realized sooner that his friend had been woken up yet again by nightmares. Usually, he was the one that woke Haruo up from his nightmares or, if he slept through Haruo's tossing and turning, then Haruo would wake him up instead. He felt more than a little guilty that he hadn't woken up to help Haruo. Part of him was also annoyed that Koneko-chan had done so in his place.

It wasn't that he begrudged Haruo finding his father. He didn't. He was happy for Haruo.

He was just… well, he was a little jealous.

And sometimes he couldn't help but wonder if he had a hidden father out there that watched over him but stayed away to protect him. Naruto didn't dwell on that broken dream though. He knew his parents were dead. The Hokage had told him so. Of course, everyone had always said Haruo's parents were dead too. But, obviously, his father wasn't. So, maybe there was hope for Naruto yet that some long-lost relative would find him again and claim him.

He still wasn't going to hold his breath though.

In the mean time, he had Haruo and that was all he needed.

Except, Haruo had a father now. And he had made more friends.

Of course, Naruto had more friends too.

But while making new friends was kinda cool, he wasn't certain how to handle Koneko-chan taking his place.

He was the one that Haruo was supposed to turn to after a nightmare. He was the one that had always been there in the past. So why did the man have to suddenly show up and try to take his place?

Naruto immediately felt guilty for thinking such a thing.

Kuma had always been there in the background silently watching over the two of them after Naruto first met Haruo. The man (and his teammates) had taught both boys a bunch of cool stuff that made their lives easier. That was especially true when it came to the little tricks and things that hadn't been taught at the Academy. The man, while stern, had also always been nice to Naruto. His eyes had never been cold with hate, anger, or indifference and he'd always treated Naruto fairly. He didn't even really make a big deal out of Naruto calling him Koneko-chan. Well, not any more, he didn't.

He'd also been the first one to step in to prevent anyone from stopping Haruo from being his friend. In fact, Kuma had been the first one to actually _encourage_ Haruo to make friends with Naruto. So, he kind of owed the man for that too; since he was one of the reasons why Naruto and Haruo were friends.

Naruto glanced sideways at his best friend to find the nine year watching him. The moment their eyes met, Haruo offered him a small smile and Naruto automatically smiled back as his earlier insecurities faded away with the knowledge that he was still Haruo's first and best friend. He figured he could put up with Kuma mothering Haruo once in a while because he knew Haruo wouldn't let anyone separate the two of them. Well, not permanently at least.

His attention was soon drawn back to Iruka as their old Academy instructor announced his and Haruo's names, "…Genin Uzumaki Naruto and Genin Haruo."

As one, thirty sets of inquisitive eyes turned first to Naruto before they swung to Haruo. The two friends exchanged another quick glance before they both cheekily waved to the mixed group of seven and eight year olds that were in their first year at the Academy. A good number of the kids automatically smiled and waved back at them in response; well, except for one kid wearing a white helmet on his head. That kid was scowling at Haruo.

"Iruka-sensei, how can that kid be a Genin!?" the kid in question demanded a moment later as he dramatically jumped to his feet and jabbed his finger at Haruo. "He's the same age as us! And everyone knows that little kids like us aren't allowed to be shinobi!"

"Haruo's not a little kid; he's awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto loudly corrected as he scowled at the kid in response to the almost-insult that had been directed at his friend.

"Once a student reaches their tenth birthday, he or she is eligible to take the graduation exam and Haruo's file clearly states that he turned eleven last summer," Iruka interjected before Naruto could add anything else. "Younger students have also been allowed to take the exam in the past so long as they have the permission of their parents or guardian, their current instructor, and the Hokage. Further more, I personally passed both Naruto and Haruo; so, I don't want to hear any more accusations or complaints about their age. Understood?"

"Hai, sensei!" all thirty students obediently replied; even the sullen boy in the white helmet.

"Good. Now that we've straightened that out; it's time for your taijutsu lesson. Today's lesson is going to be comprised of a series of one-on-one, two-minute taijutsu only spars. Your opponents will be Haruo and Naruto and there should be more than enough time for each of you to face off against both Genin at least once. Any questions? No? Then let's get started. Naruto, Haruo; if the two of you will pick a sparring ring? Everyone else; form up into two lines of fifteen."

It would take roughly two minutes for the Academy students to sort themselves out with much pushing and shoving while Naruto and Haruo watched them from inside of the sparring circles. While he waited, Naruto felt torn between anticipation for the coming matches and disappointment because he was only facing off against a bunch of Academy students. The only reason he wasn't complaining loudly about facing off against a bunch of kids several years younger than him was because he knew age did not determine skill level; Haruo was proof of that.

"Everyone, settle down and listen up," Iruka ordered as soon as the last of the students had fallen into a line. "Each match will run for two minutes and your objective is to knock your opponent out of the circle within the time limit. If you step out of the ring at any time during your match, it counts as a loss. If both you and your opponent are still in the circle when your time runs out, then the spar will be counted as a draw. Once your spar is over, you are to retreat from the ring and move to the opposite line so that you can face your next opponent."

"Finally, as I told you earlier, this is to be a taijutsu only spar; that means you are not allowed to use any weapons, bloodline limits, or ninjutsu. Using an illegal move or tool will mean an automatic forfeit of your match." Iruka then turned to address Naruto and Haruo, "Gentlemen, your objective is to remain in the ring while remaining on the defensive for the entire duration of each spar. Please try not to get too rough with the kids; this is technically their first spar of the term and most of them do not have the same level of training that the two of you do."

"Wakatta, Iruka-sensei," Naruto and Haruo both acknowledged in perfect unison without any hesitation.

"Now that everyone is in place, the first person in each line needs to step forward into the sparring ring," Iruka instructed as soon as the two Genin were ready. The scarred Chuunin waited for the first two students to settle into place before he asked, "Is everyone in the rings ready?"

"Hai, Iruka-sensei!" four voices replied slightly out of sync.

"Then give the Sign of Confrontation and prepare yourself!"

"I'm going to kick your butt!" the helmet wearing kid from earlier loudly declared from his spot inside of the sparring ring that Naruto occupied.

"In your dreams, pipsqueak!" Naruto reflexively countered as he smirked at the younger boy and formed the Sign of Confrontation as instructed.

"Konohamaru, I said to form the Sign of Confrontation; not start a verbal confrontation!" Iruka barked out as he produced a small rolled up stack of papers that he used to lightly swat the kid on the back of the helmet. "Stop playing around so we can start!" The newly named Konohamaru pouted for all of two seconds before he complied with Iruka's order. "Finally! Everyone ready? Set! And… Hajime!"

The instant the two spars were started, Konohamaru ran straight at Naruto and promptly tripped over the long scarf he was wearing around his neck. The kid hit the ground face first a split second later and Naruto stared at the younger boy for a full ten seconds in disbelief; Naruto just couldn't believe the gaki was that clumsy.

"That does it!" Konohamaru growled angrily as he finally pushed himself up off the ground around the fifteen second mark. "You're going to pay for tripping me like that!"

"I didn't touch you," Naruto snapped back in response. "You tripped over your own scarf, dumb ass."

"Naruto! Mind your mouth or I'm going to make you clean out all of the bathrooms on the first floor after lessons are over!" Iruka growled irritably from where he was monitoring both spars.

"Fine! But I stand by what I said; the kid's an annoying idiot for tripping over his own scarf and trying to pin the blame on me for his own clumsiness," Naruto huffed out even as he crossed his arms in annoyance and waited for his opponent to get his act together.

"Come on, Konohamaru! Kick his butt!" a girl with orange hair tied up in two gravity-defying ponytails called out from her position as second-in-line outside of the ring Naruto was occupying.

"You can do it, Konohamaru-kun!" the snot-nosed (his nose _was_ leaking) boy wearing glasses standing just behind the girl added a split second later.

"You're going down!" Konohamaru arrogantly declared as he jabbed his finger at Naruto.

"Bring it, twerp!" Naruto retorted as he adopted a lazy pose and gave the kid a come-hither gesture.

What followed was a thirty-second spar in which the younger boy yelled and punched at the air (missing Naruto by a mile with each wild swing) that ended when the helmeted boy tripped over his scarf a second time and tumbled out of the ring without Naruto once having once touched him. It was actually the most pathetic spar Naruto had ever participated in; and that included his humiliating first spar with Haruo where-in the younger boy had dropped him to his knees with an untimely punch to the crotch.

"I guess that means I win this one," Naruto declared as soon as he got over his shock.

"Nani!? What do you mean you win, baka!? Our spar isn't over yet!" Konohamaru protested as he scrambled up off of the ground and whipped around to glare angrily at Naruto.

"You fell out of the sparring ring when you tripped that time, ahou," Naruto countered as he dropped his eyes down to the painted white line that clearly marked the sparring ring's boundaries.

"No way! That's not fair! You must have moved the line when you tripped me!"

A tick mark developed above Naruto's right eye in response to the little brat accusing him of cheating. He was now officially annoyed; this little loud-mouthed idiot was almost as annoying as the old Sakura. Naruto curled his right hand into a fist before he slammed said fist into the palm of his left hand in a show of intimidation as he began stalking towards the gaki. He'd barely taken two steps before he found his forward momentum checked by Iruka's hand on his collar.

"Naruto, mind your temper," Iruka quietly admonished as he gave the blond a gentle shake before he let him go. "And, Konohamaru, stop blaming others for your mistakes; I've warned you before that your scarf is a health hazard. Either take it off or tuck in properly so you don't trip over it. For now, you and your sparring partner need to present each other with the Seal of Reconciliation before you move to the end of the line outside of Haruo-kun's ring; your spar is over and it's Moegi-chan's turn."

"Hai, sensei," Konohamaru petulantly muttered as he offered Naruto the Seal of Reconciliation and Naruto reciprocated a heartbeat later. The obnoxious brat then bounded to the back of the line outside of Haruo's ring. As he passed the orange-haired kunoichi on his way to the other line, Konohamaru ordered, "Knock his teeth out, Moegi-chan!"

"OSU!" Moegi readily agreed as she gracefully bounded into the sparring ring to face Naruto.

By that time, Haruo's first spar had ended in a draw and the boy he'd faced moved to the back of Naruto's line as his next partner bounded into the ring. Iruka would give them a few seconds to offer up the Sign of Confrontation before he started the next spar. A split second after Iruka announced the spar's start, Moegi rushed Naruto; much like Konohamaru before her. Unlike the bratty boy, Moegi didn't trip over her own feet. The young kunoichi-in-training attacked Naruto without reserve using the standard katas that were taught to all of the Academy students during their first year in class.

Moegi's form while precise and textbook perfect lacked any real power though. She also telegraphed her moves and repeated the same handful of katas over and over again in the same exact order; making it easy for Naruto to counter each and every one of her attacks. As a result, the spar was rather boring for Naruto and his gaze soon shifted over to Haruo in between attacks so he could check and see how his best friend was doing. From what he could see, Haruo was easily holding his own against a boy with a very sloppy taijutsu style that was several inches taller than him.

Naruto's current spar would end less than a second before Iruka called the time when the blond managed to flip the girl out of the ring when he countered the leg sweep she had attempted on him. The orange haired girl remained on the ground panting for several seconds until Naruto bounded across the ring to lean over her red and sweaty face. Moegi stuck her tongue out at him and blew a raspberry at him and Naruto laughed in response to her playfulness before he hauled her up onto her feet so they could exchange the Seal of Reconciliation now that their spar was over.

"Alright; next in line, step into the ring!" Iruka promptly ordered the four of them had finished exchanging the Seal of Reconciliation with one another.

"Go on, Udon; it's up to you to teach that blond jerk not to mess with the Konohamaru Corps!" Konohamaru belted out from his place in the other line as Moegi trudged over to join him.

"Ano… before we start, can you tell me if you're contagious or not?" Naruto squeamishly asked as politely as he could as he watched his next opponent wipe his nose on the sleeve of the dark blue shirt he was wearing as he joined the twelve year old in the ring. Naruto wasn't really bothered by snot and other gross things but he did _not_ like getting sick.

"I'm not sick; it's just my allergies acting up," Udon countered a little self-consciously.

"Oh, thank goodness; you had me really worried there for a moment. I hate being sick, dattebayo!"

"Are the two of you ready yet?" Iruka inquired with a trace of exasperation as their short exchange held things up for several seconds.

"Ready when you, sensei!" Naruto cheerily answered as he cheekily saluted the Chuunin before he formed the Seal of Confrontation with Udon.

"In that case, ready? Set! …Hajime!"

That third spar was no where near as quick (or as comical) as the first one against Konohamaru but at the same time, it also didn't last the entire two minutes like Moegi's pretty much had. Udon had rushed him the moment the spar started but instead of trying to face him straight on, Udon kept trying to get behind him. All Naruto had to do was spin on his heel to keep facing the kid to stop him from succeeding and block those kicks and punches that Udon threw at him. At the one minute mark, Udon had accidentally knocked himself out of the ring with an untimely sneeze that had sent him stumbling backwards.

Naruto almost felt bad for the kid; it had been the dust he'd been kicking up as he spun that had irritated Udon's allergies enough that the kid had sneezed. Udon was more embarrassed than angry over the loss though and he readily exchanged the Seal of Reconciliation with Naruto once Iruka had announced Naruto the winner.

The next eighteen or so fights would pass by fairly quickly and were unremarkable in Naruto's mind as they had all pretty much blended together in one big blur in his mind because of how bored he was. Each time his fights ended before the two minute mark, Naruto would glance over to watch Haruo's spars. Once such spar he'd watched was the loud-mouth's one-sided fight with the green-eyed boy and Naruto didn't know whether to laugh out loud or palm his face in disbelief when the kid tripped over his scarf again and gave himself a black eye when his face hit Haruo's knee.

The next memorable spar Naruto had that afternoon was against a girl with pupil-less lavender eyes that kinda sorta reminded him of that one weird girl that had been in his and Haruo's class while they were still at the Academy. Only, this girl had long brown hair instead of short bluish-black hair. This girl also had a sterner expression on her face and her face wasn't red like the weird girl's face always was every time Naruto looked at her. They had the same weird eyes though. That made them sisters, or something, right?

He didn't get a chance to actually ask the girl though because the moment their spar began, he'd been defending himself like crazy from the girl's fierce blows. More than once, she came very close to pushing him out of the ring but he was stubborn enough and unpredictable enough to twist away at the last second before she actually did. That spar would be the only one of Naruto's to end in a draw and he'd only managed that by the skin of his teeth. He'd later learn that she'd fought Haruo to a draw as well when she'd faced the younger boy.

Naruto was pretty certain that the only reason both he and Haruo had not lost outright was because they were older than the girl, were used to sparring against Sasuke, and because of Kakashi's hellish training. They might have even been able to win against her if they'd been allowed to go all out in their spars but they'd been limited to defense only by Iruka.

Regardless of how they'd managed to scrape out a draw against the girl, the fact that they hadn't actually lost their matches against her really seemed to make her mad if the way she'd glared at them after that was any indication.

Naruto frowned back at her as he tried to figure out why her glare looked so familiar. And it wasn't because she looked like the weird girl from his old class. Actually, now that he thought about it, her glare kind of reminded him of the teme. That thought had barely passed through his mind before he let out a groan as he realized she was probably going to see him and Haruo as rivals now! Just like Sasuke.

Great. Just what he needed, _another_ rival. NOT!

Worse yet, would be the fact that she wasn't the only rival that he and Haruo earned that afternoon.

"Fight me again!" Konohamaru demanded right after the last round of spars had officially ended. "Come on! I'll take you both on at once this time and rub your faces in the dirt!"

"Konohamaru! Stop playing around! It's time for shurikenjutsu practice!" Iruka barked at the annoying eight year old that was jumping about like an idiot in front of Naruto and Haruo while Moegi and Udon both strained to hold him back.

"Too bad, pipsqueak; looks like you won't be giving yourself a second black eye today," Naruto taunted as he sauntered towards the other end of the training yard where the target posts were located.

"Come back here and say that to my face, you cheater! I'll punch your lights out yet!" Konohamaru boldly declared as he struggled harder in his friends' grip.

"ENOUGH!" Iruka bellowed as he activated that weird jutsu of his that made it look like his head swelled up to ten times its normal size in order to scare Konohamaru into behaving.

It worked just as well as it had on Naruto's classmates and the loud-mouthed klutz shut right up. Naruto had high hopes that that would be the end of the budding rivalry the kid had been trying to start with him but the pouting glares the brat kept sending his way told him he was probably doomed.

Huffing out a sigh, Naruto wished the afternoon would hurry up and end so he could ditch the loud-mouth.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Gaki – brat  
Hajime – beginning, start, the first time, etc  
Kirigakure no Kijin – Demon of the Mist  
Osu – typically used by martial artists in a variety of ways including as a greeting, as an acknowledgement, or as an affirmative

**Notes:**

Konohamaru Corps – Okay, I just wanted to point out that I was not bashing Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon in this chapter even if it sounded like it. Those three happen to be amongst my favorite Naruto characters but you gotta admit that Konohamaru was a brat when he was younger and he was clumsy as hell. I only exaggerated it here for both the comedic factor and because the extra embarrassment Konohamaru goes through in this chapter is important for the plot. The same applies for Naruto's reaction to Udon's snotty nose.

* * *

**AN:** _I'm sure there are a number of you who thought I had forgotten about the Honorable Grandson entirely but I had purposefully delayed that meeting because I didn't want to rehash canon for that event. Ebisu's first encounter with Naruto was postponed for the same reason and yes, the closet pervert will make an appearance eventually. For those who are curious, there will be additional scenes that will develop the strange relationship between Naruto, Haruo, and the Konohamaru Corps that will pop up every now and then from this point forward. ~ Jenn_

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	32. The Troublesome Pitfalls of Logic

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Troublesome Pitfalls of Logic

_May 19, 1990, 7:12 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Shikamaru muttered a constant stream of complaints under his breath as he left the Nara Estate. He'd originally hoped to crawl into bed and sleep until noon tomorrow (for the first time in a week) once he'd finished his training for the day but his mother had had other plans. And so she'd nagged him all through supper until he'd finally given in and agreed to do as she'd asked. The most annoying part was the fact that she'd accused him of being lazy when he was bone tired after Asuma-sensei had spent the last week running them into the ground.

Same as last week. And the week before. And the week before that. And the week before that too…

In fact, ever since Naruto and Haruo had let slip that there'd been things they were supposed to have been taught at the Academy that their instructors hadn't taught them, he and his teammates been forced to sit through a bunch of boring lessons every day. Even worse than learning all the things that the Academy had failed to teach them was Asuma's decision to bump up their physical training at the same time _and_ doubled the number of hours of training they did in a day. He also dropped one of their free days so that they no longer had the entire weekend off.

And if that wasn't bad enough, his mother had actually started nagging him more about helping her around the house during what little free time he had now.

He barely had any time for cloud watching now.

And now, on top of all that, he was being forced to haul himself halfway across the village just to invite his fellow Genin over for supper the next day. Of course, he'd known since Thursday night that he was supposed to invite Naruto and Haruo over on Sunday but that was beside the point. He'd even gone to the effort of using his lunch hour yesterday _and _today (giving up a chance to just sit back and watch the clouds for two hours!) in an attempt to track down the two boys in order to deliver said invitation but he'd not been able to find them anywhere.

But did his mother appreciate the sacrifices he made? No, she did not. She had scolded him and called him lazy before she'd ordered him to march right out and deliver her invitation right now and told him not to come home until both boys agreed to spend all of Sunday at the Nara Estate.

What. A. Drag.

Shikamaru's nose wrinkled up in annoyance as he imagined his mother doing this to him every Saturday evening for the rest of his life. Narrowing his eyes, Shikamaru wondered if it would be worth the headache to give Naruto and his shadow a standing invitation to join them every Sunday in order to spare himself the inevitable trek across the village to ask them over every Saturday night. If he worded it properly, and made it seem like it was his mother ordering them to visit every week, then they would probably turn up without any effort on his part unless they were on a mission.

The only draw back to that plan was the knowledge that his leisurely Sundays would be a thing of the past because there would be no relaxing around Naruto; the rambunctious blond didn't have an off switch.

Well, he could always invite Chouji over for half of the day as well so that he wouldn't have to face Naruto's enthusiasm alone. Or he could lure Haruo away from his mother in order to have a natural buffer against the blond; he had noticed that Naruto always seemed slightly calmer and more relaxed when Haruo was nearby. Not that that made much of a difference when one considers the fact that Haruo pretty much followed Naruto everywhere and the blond was still well known for being loud and obnoxious.

Still, there was a higher chance that Naruto would sit still and be silent for at least two minutes when Haruo was in the immediate vicinity.

Seeing that he had arrived at the pink monstrosity that housed his fellow Genin's apartment, Shikamaru shelved his inner debate as he slowed to a stop at the foot of the stairs leaded up to the top level and let out a sigh of exhaustion as he calculated just how much energy it was going to take him to climb up two flights of stairs. Two seconds later, he would let out another sigh before he wearily placed his foot on the bottom step and proceeded to haul himself up the stairs one step at a time while using the rail to pull himself along.

He eventually reached the top floor some ten minutes later and as soon as he cleared the top step, he leaned up against the banister for a moment in order to catch his breath while once again cursing his sensei for being a slave driver. Once he no longer felt like his legs were going to fall off, Shikamaru shuffled along the hallway until he reached the correct apartment. He was pleased to see a line of light shining out from beneath the door because that meant there was a greater chance that one or both boys were home.

Knowing that there was no longer any point in procrastinating now that he was there, Shikamaru reached up and rapped his knuckles against the door twice. It would take less than thirty seconds for him to receive a response from the other side and Shikamaru braced himself for a boisterous greeting from Naruto. He was therefore more than a little surprised when the door was opened by Hatake Kakashi instead. Even more shocking was the fact that the Jounin's infamous Sharingan was currently on display for the whole world to see while his right eye was covered with a thick slab of steak.

"Mendoukusei," Shikamaru muttered under his breath as he mentally counted apartment doors between this door and the stairs to determine if he'd knocked on the wrong apartment door by mistake. Once he had determined that, no, he had not made a mistake; he frowned at the Jounin blocking the doorway and asked, "This is Naruto and Haruo's apartment, ne?"

"Aa, the boys are a little tied up at the moment or one of them would have answered the door instead," Kakashi answered with obvious amusement. "I take it you wish to speak to one or both of them?"

"Hai."

"You might as well come in then," Kakashi offered as he opened the door wider before he walked away. "You'll find them both in the kitchen."

"Arigatou, Hatake-san."

Shikamaru gently shut the door behind him as he watched the potentially injured Jounin (what other reason was there for a Jounin to press a slab of meat to his face unless he had a black eye?) mosey over to the couch and gingerly drop down until he sprawled over the entire thing. Yep, definitely injured or he wouldn't have looked so inelegant when he'd sat down; he'd seen his father gracefully drop into a couch enough to know even the laziest of Jounin refused to look clumsy no matter what they were doing. An injured shinobi, however, would have to take care not to hurt themselves further.

And from the way Kakashi had been moving, Shikamaru would bet his entire savings that the man undoubtedly had a couple of bruised or potentially cracked ribs on top of the black eye. Both injuries were fairly recent as well; as an older injury would not affect one's movements so much and were unlikely to need any kind of treatment and those that did need treatment probably would have required hospitalization in any case. So, Shikamaru easily deduced that the man had been injured after he'd returned to the village from his latest mission which undoubtedly meant it was a training related.

Shikamaru sympathized with the Jounin for all of two seconds (coming home from training feeling like a giant bruise was _not_ fun – he had hauled himself home in just such a condition to _know_ that) before he dismissed the older man and made his way to the kitchen so that he could deliver the ultimatum… er, invitation that his mother had sent him to deliver. He'd barely set foot in the kitchen before he froze in shock at the scene he'd walked in on. The twelve and a half year old didn't know whether or not he should be surprised over the fact that Kakashi had been quite literal when he said that both boys were currently tied up.

Once he got over the shock at seeing Naruto and Haruo secured to their chairs with ninja wire while a stern Iruka-sensei loomed over them as they worked through a large stack of papers that could only be an assessment test, Shikamaru snickered at the scene. Even funnier was the fact that Naruto had his pencil tied to his right hand and what looked like a blank sealing tag conveniently slapped over his mouth. Both boys whipped their heads in Shikamaru's direction the moment they heard him laugh and Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk in response to the annoyed glare the blond shot at him.

"Stop goofing around, Naruto!" Iruka instructed as he produced a roll of paper and promptly thwacked Naruto across the back of the head with it when the blond took too long to return his attention to the test in front of him. "That means you as well, Haruo!"

The green eyed Genin shot a second look at Shikamaru before he obediently returned his gaze to his test and got back to work while Naruto mutinously scowled at his test before a second thump on the head had him putting pencil to paper once more. Shikamaru's smirk only grew wider in response; it was nice to see the pair suffering after all of the suffering they had inflicted upon him. Though, to be fair, it wasn't really their fault that the Academy Staff had failed to do their jobs properly.

That didn't mean he couldn't blame them for bringing the discrepancies to the attention of his father who in turn brought it to the attention of the Hokage who then commanded the Jounin sensei to crack down on their students' training.

Shikamaru would only get another thirty seconds to enjoy the moment before a voice speaking right beside his ear had him yelping in surprise and jumping away from the door, "Is there something I can help you with, Nara-kun?"

Naruto and Haruo both snickered at him (Naruto's laughter muffled by the blank tag sealing his mouth shut) and Shikamaru sent them both an unimpressed glower a split second before he spun around to face the man that had just scared him. It only took him a second to identify the man as an active member of the ANBU Corps based on the uniform he was wearing and another two seconds to match the code name Kuma to his mask. A glance at the man's ANBU tattoo further revealed that the man had recently been promoted to captain based on the new color of said tattoo.

During the short amount of time that took the young Nara heir to recognize and identify the shinobi in front of him, he'd also had more than enough time to wonder why an ANBU Captain would be visiting two Genin. Kakashi and Iruka's presence could easily be explained by the fact that Iruka was administering an assessment test to the other two boys while Kakashi was their Jounin sensei. There was really no logical reason for ANBU to be present though; unless his presence was related to the mission that Team Seven had just finished…?

Shikamaru didn't dwell on that oddity though as he instead gathered himself enough to answer, "Not particularly, Kuma-teichou; I'm only here because my troublesome mother wished me to extend an invitation for Naruto and Haruo to spend the day at the Nara Estate and join our family for supper."

"Mmph mmphumph," Naruto desperately mumbled through his makeshift gag while he adamantly shook his head up and down while Haruo automatically glanced to Kuma for a brief moment before he dropped his eyes back to his test.

"Just finish your test, Naruto; you can talk to Shikamaru when you're done," Iruka sternly instructed as he whapped Naruto twice across the back of the head in rapid succession.

"Nara-kun, if you're not in a rush to get home, you're more than welcome to make yourself comfortable while you wait; the boys should be finished within the next ten minutes and then the three of you can discus your okaasan's invitation at leisure," Kuma suggested with a light chuckle as he gestured towards the far end of the table where he'd be out of Naruto and Haruo's way.

Shikamaru weighed his options for all of two seconds before he moved to the table and slouched down in the indicated chair; his mother had specifically told him not to come home without a positive answer from the two friends. His rear had barely touched down on the chair before Kuma was offering him a can of Strawberry Ponta and a plate of anpan and Shikamaru couldn't help but give the man a weird look over the fact that he'd been both comfortable enough to rifle through someone else's home and familiar enough with the home in question to offer refreshments to a guest.

Even weirder was the fact that neither Naruto nor Haruo seemed all that bothered with the man's behavior; almost as if they were used to him doing such things. That was… strange, since Shikamaru knew for a fact that the two boys lived alone. Shikamaru's expression grew thoughtful as he glanced between the two boys and the masked shinobi. He mentally huffed a moment later when he didn't see anything that could shed any light on the mystery. That was most annoying. It had been bad enough when it had been just a secret or two surrounding Naruto and Haruo but now there was an ANBU involved!

Shikamaru nearly groaned when he realized that his father was probably going to grill him about both boys a third time when he got home. That was _not_ how he intended to spend his night! Sure, he loved playing Shogi with his father and he loved the intellectual challenge that every conversation he held with his father contained but, damn it, he was tired! He got little enough sleep nowadays as it was, he didn't need his father cutting into his down time further! Not that he'd ever say that to his father's face. That would be as bad as ignoring the chores his mother assigned him.

Sure, his father came off as lazy and hen-pecked but the truth was a far different kunai. Get him motivated enough and you'd regret it for the rest of your life (as short as it might be).

The young Nara's thoughts were interrupted at that point by Haruo speaking up for the first time since he'd entered the kitchen roughly ten minutes ago.

"Iruka-sensei, I'm finished," Haruo quietly stated as he set down his pencil, straightened up his test sheets, and stood up in order to pass the thick packet to Iruka.

Shikamaru thought nothing of it until he recalled that Haruo had been wired to his chair and he did a double take the moment he realized that Haruo had gotten up as if there'd been no wire tying him to the chair! At first he thought the wire might have been a genjutsu that was released the moment the younger boy claimed to be finished but a quick glance at the chair debunked that theory; there was a good ten feet of wire loosely wrapped around the chair. Next, he thought maybe Haruo had had a hidden kunai he'd used to cut himself free but a second glance revealed the wire to be uncut.

He still thought it might be a genjutsu but his attempt to dispel said genjutsu failed to change what he was seeing. It was also blatantly obvious that the wires hadn't been unraveled since the metal was not crinkled. He also knew that the technique to escape bindings in the Academy required one to either cut their bindings or unravel them manually. There was a slight chance that someone who had mastered the Kawarimi could pull of a switch to escape but Haruo obviously hadn't done that.

"How the hell did you just get out of that wire?" Shikamaru demanded when he couldn't think of any other possible methods for Haruo to have escaped.

The sound of a palm striking porcelain drew Shikamaru's attention to Kuma and he felt even more bewildered when he noticed the man had palmed his face; a distinctly un-ANBU-like behavior. The man then parted his fingers to level a stern look at the now blushing eleven year old as he growled out an exasperated, "Haruo…"

"Gomen, sensei-nii," Haruo guiltily offered as he reached up to sheepishly rub his nose with the knuckle of his right index finger. He then ducked his chin and snuck a sideways glance at Shikamaru before he glanced back at Kuma and when Shikamaru returned his gaze to the man, he found the masked shinobi's intense gaze weighing him and it took all of Shikamaru's willpower not to quail beneath that heavy gaze.

"You know the rules; not one word more than necessary," Kuma stated once he'd finished examining Shikamaru and the twelve and a half year old let out the breath he'd been holding in a soft whoosh as soon as the moment was over.

He then perked up five seconds later when he registered the fact that the man had just given Haruo permission to reveal something that sounded suspiciously like a secret. Something that was obviously a secret and the Nara expectantly turned to the younger Genin while he tried to hide the eagerness he felt. A small part of his mind even registered the fact that Haruo had called Kuma 'sensei-nii'; which basically explained why Kuma behaved as if he lived here as well and in fact explained just why he was there in the first place – he was Naruto and Haruo's pseudo-guardian.

Shikamaru then refocused his attention solely on Haruo when the brunet opened his mouth and announced, "It's a special trick that I learned how to do with my Kekkei Genkai."

Shikamaru's head impacted the table with a dull thud in response to the other boy playing the Kekkei Genkai card while he mentally chastised himself for getting his hopes up. He should have known he wasn't actually going to be given any information the moment Kuma had restricted the amount of information that Haruo could provide. Even a first year Academy student would have seen that coming a mile away!

"You suck," Shikamaru grumbled petulantly into the table.

"Such is life," Kuma sagely stated in a voice that sounded far too smug for Shikamaru's sanity.

Shikamaru opened his mouth to voice utter his favorite complaint when a burst of chakra smoke suddenly erupting from Naruto's general direction distracted him. When the smoke cleared a moment later, there were two Narutos in the room; one tied to the chair and one standing right behind it. Surprisingly, the one in the chair was no longer gagged while the standing Naruto was; meaning that the blond had silently substituted himself with what could only be a solid clone. Shikamaru was vaguely relieved that Naruto had at least used a method of escape that made sense to him.

"Finished, dattebayo!" Naruto crowed as he peeled the tag off of his mouth before he worked on unbinding the pencil from his hand. "I thought I'd never finish that stupid test!"

"Stop being so dramatic, Naruto; I know full well that this test was far easier for you than any of the previous tests that you took during your time at the Academy," Iruka chided as he collected Naruto's stack of test papers and tucked them away with the stack he'd taken from Haruo earlier.

"Pfft… at least those tests were never more than one or two pages long! The stupid test you just gave us had a million pages at least!"

"Stop exaggerating, Whiskers," Kuma admonished as he tugged on a lock of Naruto's hair.

"It was still extra long!" Naruto stubbornly insisted as he crossed his arms and stuck his nose up in the air. The blond dropped the pose a few seconds later in order to give Kuma the stink eye as then demanded, "Are you gonna stop us from hanging out with Shikamaru tomorrow?"

"No, I'm not going to keep either of you from visiting your friends."

"Does that mean the two of you will come over tomorrow morning?" Shikamaru inquired as he glanced between the two friends while another part of his mind wondered why Naruto had thought Kuma would not allow them to accept his mother's invitation.

"You bet!"

"Ano… what about Sakura, 'Ruto? We already promised her that we'd spend time with her tomorrow again," Haruo pointed out as a small frown pulled the corners of his mouth down and Shikamaru's eyebrows about flew off his face upon hearing that; last he heard the two boys didn't exactly like their female teammate.

"Oh, yeah; I forgot about that. It's still kinda weird to hang out with her. I guess that means we won't be able to hang out with you all day."

"Since when do the two of you hang out with Sakura? I didn't think the three of you were friends; I know you weren't friends the last time I saw you."

"We've been friends ever since she stood up to the dou…" Haruo started before he cut himself off mid-word at the sound of a pointed cough coming from Kuma while his face turned pink and he very carefully avoided glancing in Kuma's direction. "Er, that is… I meant to say that she stood up to the Uchiha and told him he was wrong on the way to Nami but we've only been hanging out together since we go back because there wasn't really any time to hang out while we were there."

"Sakura actually told Sasuke he was wrong to his face?" Shikamaru repeated in surprise; he hadn't thought any of Sasuke's fans were capable of even realizing that the last Uchiha could do wrong, let alone tell him such a thing!

"Yeah, he almost hit her for it too," Naruto confirmed with a scowl.

"That's… that's…"

"Exactly!" Haruo and Naruto crowed at the same time when Shikamaru couldn't find the words to express how he felt about what he'd just learned.

"Huh, weird. Does that mean that Sasuke has one less fan-girl now?"

"Yep! And it only took five months for her to see the real teme."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Sasuke's an ass-hat when there aren't any adults around to catch him being a jerk," Haruo explained with a shrug of his shoulders and Shikamaru choked on the gulp of soda he'd been drinking the instant he heard the foul name the younger boy had just called his teammate; he'd never heard Haruo curse before.

"Haruo, unless you want to be grounded for two weeks instead of just one, I'd better not hear you calling your teammate another demeaning name," Kuma admonished as he dropped his hand on Haruo's head.

"Well, he is!"

"That's still not a reason for you to run around calling him every derogatory insult under the sun. Whether you like it or not, Sasuke _is_ your teammate and that means that you need to put your personal feelings aside and work with him."

"We will when he does," Naruto childishly proclaimed as he crossed his arms and scowled at the floor.

"You're not immune to further grounding either, Whiskers."

Shikamaru blinked twice in surprise in response to the rather 'childish' form of punishment that his two fellow Genin had been assigned by their ANBU caretaker. The mere idea that someone would _ground_ a shinobi was absurd and yet, according to what he'd just learned, both Naruto and Haruo had been grounded over an altercation with Sasuke on their recent mission. A small part of Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder if he was being pranked. Naruto was a well known prankster. As was Haruo.

The rest of Shikamaru could easily imagine his mother grounding him for some perceived misdeed and he would have been tempted to utter a dismayed groan if he could have been bothered to forth the effort.

Best not dwell on that too much lest his mother divine his thoughts and utilize the same form of punishment the next time he tried to skip out on his chores so he could go cloud watching. His mother was just troublesome enough to do it too and the moment she did, he'd never hear the end of it from Ino.

The young Nara would spend another hour hanging out with his fellow Genin before he headed home; the three of them making tentative plans for the next day. Their plans mostly revolved around continuing the game of Table War that they'd started the first time Naruto and Haruo had been invited over to the Nara Estate. Shikamaru had also somehow found himself roped into taking Haruo to visit the Nara's herd; though he had absolutely no clue how that had happened. Normally, that would be a bad thing but Shikamaru suspected that the deer would welcome the younger boy's presence.

Rikumaru certainly had no issues with the eleven year old.

It wasn't until Shikamaru was crawling into bed later that night that he finally registered the fact that Naruto and Haruo had been wearing standard shinobi uniforms instead of their usual colorful outfits. He pondered the strangeness of seeing them in any color other than orange or green before he pushed the oddness out of his mind. He would have more than enough time to figure it out tomorrow and it would be far too troublesome to stay awake obsessing over something so insignificant when he was so tired already.

* * *

_May 20, 1990, 9:21 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Shikaku idly chewed on the stalk of a foxtail as he lounged in the shadows on his front porch while he surreptitiously monitored the small pack of pre-teens migrating in his direction. He was not surprised to see Chouji, Naruto, or Haruo (the former because he was Shikamaru's best friend and the latter two because his wife had ordered their son to invite them over) but he was more than a little surprised to see the young pink-haired kunoichi from Team Seven tagging along with the boys. Haruno Sakura was not known for tolerating the company of any boy outside of one Uchiha Sasuke.

Though, to be fair, he _had_ heard that the young lady had lost all interest in her former crush and developed a working relationship with two of her teammates.

That still didn't explain her willingness to hanging out with four boys on her day off.

If Inoichi's daughter had been with them, Shikaku wouldn't have thought her presence so out of place but the precocious blonde was no where in sight. And while it was possible that little Ino had been invited too and that she was just running late, Shikaku didn't think that was the case. For one, Ino-chan was never late. For another, Shikaku knew that his son had not invited his female teammate over for the day because Shikamaru found the overly bossy girl too troublesome to put up with on his day off.

So, that begged the question; why was Haruno Sakura tagging along with her teammates?

In his experience, young girls tended to prefer the company of other girls. Of course, there were exceptions to that rule but as far as he knew neither Sakura nor Ino were amongst those counted as one of said exceptions. In fact, from what he could recall, Ino and Sakura had been rather close friends at one point. Even after they had become 'rivals' for Uchiha Sasuke's 'affections', the two of them had still gravitated towards one another for their little confrontations whenever they weren't chasing after the boy.

Or at least that was what Inoichi had implied through the years.

So, why wasn't the girl off chasing after Ino on the blonde's only day off from team training?

Shikaku's attention then shifted from the pink haired kunoichi back to the two boys she had followed to his home. At first glance, they appeared much as they had the first time he had seen them. It was on the second glance that he finally noticed the two boys were wearing shinobi blue uniforms instead of their usual colorful tracksuits. He couldn't help but arch an eyebrow of disbelief over the drastic change the simple change of cloths had engendered in the boys' overall appearance. One could almost go so far as to claim that both boys now looked like professionals.

The Nara Head let out a soft snort the moment that thought crossed his mind. Those two pranksters might look like conventional shinobi now but he doubted their behavior would ever match their current appearance. In fact, he'd wager that the two of them could use their current façade to instigate higher level pranks more effectively since they no longer stood out quite as much as they had in their previous outfits.

_How troublesome_, Shikaku thought to himself as he imagined just how much havoc those two would cause if their wardrobe change became permanent.

Shikaku then found himself wondering why they had changed their signature outfits so suddenly. He knew it wasn't because they had earned their hitai-ate; they'd earned them months ago and they hadn't bothered to change their uniform at the time. He supposed it was possible that their recent experiences in Nami had shown them how impractical their former tracksuits were in the field but he didn't think that was what had happened.

Call it a hunch but he was fairly certain that their wardrobe change had not been voluntary.

He also suspected that the reason for the change was due to their unprofessional behavior on their recent mission. The only real question was if the change would be permanent or if it was just a temporary punishment meant to impress upon the two pre-teens the necessity of comporting themselves appropriately while on a mission.

Once he had finished absorbing the boys' new appearance, the Jounin allowed his attention to solely focus on the enigma that was Team Seven's youngest member. The corners of his mouth soon curled downwards in a small frown as he immediately noticed the green-eyed boy's subdued behavior. Shikaku hadn't been surprised by the child's cowed demeanor during the debriefing of their previous mission the other day but he had not expected that behavior to still be present after being back in the village for a few days.

Pursing his lips around the stem in his mouth, Shikaku supposed that the potential punishments that had been assigned to the boys might have something to do with it. That didn't explain the way the kid completely ignored the elder Nara's presence though. Shikaku knew that the kid was more than capable of sensing him by now but Haruo had yet to glance in his direction. The frown on his face deepened when he further noticed the way the eleven year old never strayed so much as a single centimeter from Naruto's side and that the boy was all but crowding the older boy.

Shikaku let out a tired sigh a moment later when it suddenly occurred to him that Haruo probably had some lingering psychological trauma from when Naruto had been placed in a death-like state during the mission. With how close those two were purportedly to one another, it wasn't really all that much of a surprise to learn that the brunet had been more than a little distressed at being subjected to the belief that he'd lost his friend. Now that he'd identified the potential problem, he'd have to make certain that Inoichi knew the boy would need counseling.

Of course, chances were high that Inoichi already knew about it.

_As troublesome as it would be to bring up a matter that Inoichi is probably already dealing with, it would be best to speak with him to be certain that the issue is being dealt with than to conserve my energy and keep quiet lest my inaction allowed the issue to worsen_, Shikaku silently told himself.

By the time Shikaku had reached the decision to speak to his friend regarding Haruo's mental state, the group of boys had just about reached the porch. He was just contemplating on whether or not he should put in the effort to get up and greet the boys when he caught sight of Rikumaru fast approaching the group from the trees that lined the path the boys were walking on. Shikaku abruptly dropped his usual lazy demeanor as he sprang up onto his feet and jumped off of the porch while gathering his shadows so that he could intercept the stag before the animal attacked their guests.

At the same time as his feet hit the ground, an excited cry cut through the air as Haruo left Naruto's side and happily bounded towards the troublesome stag without an ounce of fear as the stag slowed to a stop and lowered his head as if he was preparing to charge. Shikaku spat out a string expletives under his breath as he sent his shadows racing towards both stag and boy in an attempt to protect the kid from Rikumaru. He would be two seconds too slow and nearly an inch short of reaching his goal and the thirty-eight year old Jounin was left gawping at the scene in front of him like a newly minted Genin.

Instead of attacking the 'trespassers' as Shikaku had feared he would, Rikumaru was nuzzling the green-eyed Genin with his muzzle while the boy snuggled up against the stag's chest. Childish laughter soon filled the air as Rikumaru snuffled the boy's ear and lightly nipped at his neck while Haruo's hands tried to fend off the overly affectionate deer. Shikaku's shadows withdrew as his concentration broke; his mind grinding to a complete standstill as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.

By the time his brain had rebooted itself, Rikumaru had dropped down onto his knees and Haruo was practically draped over the stag in his attempt to pet every single inch of the deer that he could reach. It was at that point that he recalled what Shikamaru had told him about Rikumaru trying to drag Haruo off into the forest the first time the two boys had been invited onto the estate. Seeing the stag interacting with an outsider with his own eyes was far more unsettling than hearing about it second hand though and Shikaku couldn't help but worry about what it meant.

It was unnatural for the deer to tolerate the touch of a non-clan member.

The second that thought had formed in Shikaku's mind, he stiffened in shock as it suddenly occurred to him that there was a small possibility that Haruo carried Nara blood. The boy _was_ an orphan. And it wasn't unheard of for children to be born outside of a clan or even outside of the village as a result of a relations incident that occurred when a shinobi was on a mission.

If the boy was the result of such an incident, all it would take was a quick blood test to confirm his bloodline. Actually, the boy's blood work should be on file at the hospital and it wouldn't take much for him to get a copy of the boy's file in order to compare his D.N.A. against D.N.A. records of the clan. Once he confirmed a match, it would be very easy to check the mission records to determine which of his cousins Hhad been out of the village roughly nine months prior to Haruo's birth in order to narrow down his potential father.

A scowl formed on Shikaku's face when he recalled the incomplete nature of Haruo's shinobi file. There was a high possibility that getting access to his blood samples would be no where near as easy as it should be due to the secrecy surrounding the boy. The scowl deepened when he immediately began to wonder if someone was attempting to keep Haruo's parentage a secret in order to prevent the Nara Clan from claiming the child. There were two possible reasons for such a conspiracy to form.

Someone either wanted leverage over the Nara Clan or someone was worried that Haruo's connection to Naruto would give the Nara Clan far too much influence over the Jinchuuriki.

Spinning on his heel, Shikaku stalked off in the direction of the estate's entrance.

He had places to go and people to browbeat.

Family was everything to a Nara and nothing could motivate a Nara to action or violence faster than a threat (no matter how obscure) against their family.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Ano – um, uh, er  
Arigatou – thank you  
Gomen – I'm sorry  
Hai – yes  
Mendoukusei – how troublesome, what a drag, or this sucks

**Notes:**

Shikaku's Deductions – it should be fairly obvious that some of Shikaku's logical deductions are wrong since Haruo is most assuredly NOT a Nara but you'll have to forgive the man; he's flying blind here since he knows nothing about Haruo's status as a Trueborn Sage. He is also unaware that the reason why Haruo's file is full of blanks is mostly due to the fact that Tenzou is his father in addition to the fact that he'd inherited Tenzou's Mokuton and has magic. So, because he doesn't have all of the information he needs, Shikaku drew the wrong conclusion.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	33. Three Ring Circuses

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three: Three Ring Circuses

_May 20, 1990, 10:43 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Inoichi glanced up from the greenhouse inventory that his cousin had delivered to him just that morning when he heard the alarm barrier set up in the doorway of his store chime an alert to notify him that someone had crossed the barrier and automatically called out, "Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers; how may I be of service this morning?"

"You can start by telling me why you've been hiding Haruo's parentage from me for the past six years," Shikaku growled out in an uncharacteristically agitated tone as he stalked up to the counter with a fierce scowl on his face.

"Nani…?" Inoichi blurted back in surprise as he failed to see how Haruo's father had anything to do with his friend or the Nara Clan.

"Did you really think I wouldn't pick up on the fact that the gaki has Nara blood?"

Inoichi gaped at his longtime friend in bewilderment over his erroneous assumption that Haruo was a Nara. The utter absurdity of the nine year old being a long-lost Nara was so great that Inoichi wasn't certain if he wanted to cry or laugh in response to Shikaku's claim. Unable to verbalize a response to the question as a result of his internal conflict, he simply shook his head no.

"Well? What have you got to say for yourself? Why didn't you tell me!? Did the council order you to keep his parentage secret because they feared we'd use Haruo's friendship with Uzumaki-kun to make a grab for power?"

This time Inoichi couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement before he drawled, "He's not one of yours, Shikaku."

"Bullshit. The deer like him. Rikumaru _likes_ him. The deer don't tolerate outsiders and Rikumaru barely tolerates any Nara outside of my wife and son. That damn stag acts like Haruo is part of the herd every time he sees him!"

"Haruo is not a Nara," Inoichi repeated as any amusement he felt fizzled out the moment he finally realized how worked up Shikaku was about the matter. "He doesn't even look, let alone act, like a Nara."

"So, he most likely takes after his mother's family in looks," Shikaku snapped back. "And while I'm fully aware that he is far too boisterous to be a full Nara, you can't deny that he inherited the Nara intelligence! I've seen his Academy scores! The only reason he didn't claim the Rookie of the Year spot when he graduated was because Uchiha Sasuke was physically stronger than him."

"Shikaku…"

"I want to know why that information has been kept from me! As the official head of the Nara Clan, it's my right to know when the offspring of a relations incident involving one of my clansmen has been found and brought back to the village! I've already checked the mission records and know that my cousin Ensui had been on a mission that would have taken him through the town that was listed as Haruo's place of birth roughly twelve years ago."

"Shikaku…"

"You know damn well how I feel about children; especially those related to me by blood! Did you really think I'd turn him out just because he doesn't look or act like a Nara?"

"Shikaku!"

"Do you have any idea how much of a pain it's going to be to start his clan training so late after he's already gone through the Academy!? I'm going to have to undo everything they taught him regarding taijutsu and chakra manipulation before I can even start teaching him how to feed chakra into his shadow so that he can learn shadow manipulation!"

"Chikushou! Shikaku, will you just shut up for one minute and listen to me!?" Inoichi snapped as he ran out of patience and reached out to latch onto the edges of Shikaku's deer hide haori so that he could pull the shorter man half over the counter in an attempt to get his friend's attention. "Now that I _finally_ have your attention, I'm only going to say this one more time; Haruo is _**not**_ a Nara. He doesn't have so much as a single ounce of Nara blood in his veins! I know exactly who his father is and the man is _**not**_ a Nara."

"The deer…"

"Are far from the only animal that is drawn to the child; something you would have noticed if you'd ever seen the kid around any other animals – such as the unattached Inuzuka ninken, the messenger hawks in the Aviary, or the feral cats that haunt the alleys behind the restaurants."

"I see," Shikaku murmured as his anger (and his energy) bled out of him. His teammate's eyes then took on a calculating glint and Inoichi nearly groaned as he realized that Shikaku was not going to let the matter of Haruo's parentage drop any time soon. "You said you know who his father _is_ not who his father _was_; ergo, Haruo's father is still alive. Who is it? Why is the boy still listed as an orphan if the identity of his father is known? For that matter, if his father is alive; then why does Haruo think both of his parents are dead?"

"Classified."

"Unclassify it!" Shikaku snapped back with far more passion than one would expect from a Nara. "By rights, as the Jounin Commander of Konoha's Shinobi Force, I should have been handed the boy's full file the moment he strapped that shiny little hitai-ate to his forehead! But here it is five months later and I still know next to nothing about the kid outside of a truncated report that isn't worth the paper it's written on!"

"Damn it, Shikaku; you _know_ I don't have the authority to do that!"

"Then tell me who does! I want solid proof that Haruo is not a Nara; not mere words. Because I just spent the last hour collecting a shit ton of data that says he is!"

"Kuso," Inoichi muttered under his breath as he released his friend so he could run his hand through his hair. He briefly contemplated the merits of ignoring the demand for information before he realized that not giving Shikaku a name would just see the man pestering the living daylights out of him until he got what he wanted anyway. The damn Nara could be annoyingly persistent when he wanted something. "Go talk to Kasai but don't come whining to me when he tosses you out of his office on your ear for harassing him for classified information."

"Kasai? Not the Hokage?"

"Pfft… the only reason the Hokage even knows about Haruo is because the gaki is friends with Naruto. If Kasai had had his way, then there wouldn't be a single soul in the entire village that knew Haruo existed; including his father."

"What…? Why…?"

"If you want answers, go talk to Kasai," Inoichi snarled with more than a little irritation as he tried not to think about how badly Kasai was going to chew him out for giving Shikaku any information at all.

Shikaku stared at him for a full minute before he spun on his heel and stalked out without another word. Inoichi huffed in response to his teammate's rudeness before he put the entire visit out of his mind; he had far better things to do with his time than to dwell on his laziest friend's vexing behavior – like put together a list of cuttings needed from the greenhouse to restock the shop.

* * *

_May 20, 1990, 11:13 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Hidden deep within the solid bedrock that was the foundation of the Hokage Mountain was the ANBU Prison Facility where those prisoners that were either a great danger to the village or in great danger from the village were housed until their fates had been decided. Most of the prisoners that passed through the facility could be considered political prisoners whose mere presence in Konoha could trigger a war. Others were those who had the knowledge, power, or money to destroy Konoha who had had the misfortune of getting caught before they could bring Konoha to her knees.

Then there were the small handful of prisoners that fell into both categories.

Momochi Zabuza was one such prisoner.

The rogue shinobi was powerful enough that he could easily kill around seventy percent of Konoha's forces (not to mention the civilians) without breaking a sweat before the other thirty percent could step in and take him down. On top of that, Zabuza's status as a former member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu from Kirigakure that had turned on his village meant that the Mizukage would be more than a little eager to get his hands on the missing nin and that he would be more than willing to declare war on Konoha in order to do so.

That wasn't even taking the skills and abilities of Zabuza's apprentice into consideration.

Nor did it factor in just how much Zabuza and his apprentice would be worth to the rebels that were seeking to displace the current Mizukage in order to end the Bloodline Purges.

Simply put, Zabuza was a dangerous prisoner no matter how you looked at it.

And at the same time, Zabuza was insignificant when compared to Konoha's greatest enemy (and her greatest failure); Orochimaru.

The traitorous member of the Densetsu no Sannin had at one point been one of Konoha's greatest heroes and one of four candidates considered for the position of Yondaime Hokage. The Sandaime Hokage's former student turning traitor had been a major blow to both Konoha and the Sandaime. Worse yet, Orochimaru had escaped the night his treachery had been discovered and he had only grown more powerful in the wake of his desertion. But the biggest issue the village had with Orochimaru was the fact that the man's forth greatest ambition was to see Konoha razed to the ground.

It was the threat of Orochimaru that made keeping Zabuza (and his apprentice) alive so risky.

The reason that risk now existed was strictly due to the information on a certain young Genin that the two Kiri natives had learned during the course of battle that led to their capture. Information that would draw Orochimaru to the boy in question like the smell of crap drew flies to a latrine. And Konoha could not afford to have said child fall into the hands of Orochimaru. Nor could they afford for the traitor to learn that the child's father still lived.

Ergo, Konoha could not afford to release Zabuza or his apprentice.

The most obvious answer to the dilemma would be to execute both individuals; dead men tell no tales, after all.

However, executing them could potentially cause just as many problems for Konoha. The outcome of the on-going civil war in Kiri would undoubtedly be affected the moment news of Zabuza's execution was released.

On one side of the equation, his death could demoralize the rebels and that could potentially lead to the Mizukage winning the civil war and continuing his reign of bloodshed. Should the Mizukage win, there was also a high probability that he would set his sights on the rest of the Elemental Nations next in his quest to purge the world of Kekkei Genkai users and carriers. On the other side of the equation, the loss of Zabuza could see the rebels holding a grudge against Konoha and seeking retribution against them if they ever managed to dispose of the current Mizukage. In that situation, it wasn't inconceivable that Konoha could be drawn into an outright war against Kiri.

It was that not so small conundrum that occupied the ANBU Commander's thoughts as he sat at his desk in his office within ANBU Headquarters. Kasai (the bear of a man had given up his own name the moment he had placed the flame mask upon his face) was more than a little irritated with the entire situation and had been since the day Kakashi had dragged the two prisoners back to the village. If the former ANBU Captain had executed both prisoners during the course of his mission, then there would not have been any political repercussions due to Zabuza being in Gato's employ at the time and his death would have been considered collateral damage.

Kasai muttered a choice expletive under his breath as he threw Zabuza's file on top of the other files he'd been reviewing that morning on his desk in disgust and leaned back in his chair in an attempt to lesson the migraine that he had been nursing since Zabuza had been dragged to the village by Team Seven. His thoughts then immediately turned to the little headache that was inevitably at the root of his migraine; the nine year old Trueborn Sage, Haruo no Mokuton.

The gaki had been wrecking havoc on his ordered world from the moment his father had first brought him home and the incidents were growing progressively worse each year. If the pranks the little snot pulled with the Uzumaki gaki hadn't been bad enough, the brat had now progressed to showing off his Kekkei Genkai in fit a of temper. Of course, the boy had had issues with his temper almost from day one; constantly sending those who upset him to the hospital with severe rashes and boils, second degree burns, or concussions from his 'mahou'.

So, it wasn't really surprising that his little temper fits had essentially escalated with each passing year.

The only thing that had mitigated the severity of the headaches he had experienced each time the little gaki had one of his fits was the fact that the there was very little that actually set the child off. In fact, there'd only been two triggers known to ignite Haruo's temper; an attempt to take him away from his friend or an attack on his friend (whether real or imagined). The rest of the time, the boy was usually happy and content when he wasn't out causing mischief with his partner in crime.

Kasai was startled out of his contemplations a split second later when the door to his office burst open hard enough that the door bounced off the wall as an angry Nara stormed into his office without warning. The irate clan head kicked the door shut as soon as he passed through the threshold before he stalked up to Kasai's desk and planted both of his hands on the wooden furniture so that he was all but looming over the seated ANBU Commander. If Kasai had been a lesser man, the killing intent that the shadow user was exuding would have had him pissing his pants in fear.

"Something I can do for you, Nara?" Kasai dryly inquired as he refused to allow the other man's anger to intimidate him.

"I want answers and I was told that you were the only one that could give them to me," Shikaku growled as the shadows in the office stirred in response to the Nara's anger.

"Oh…? Is that so? And exactly how am I supposed to provide you with answers if I don't even know the question?"

Shikaku's response was to produce a single file that he slapped down onto Kasai's desk. Kasai immediately reached for the folder and pulled it towards him. The moment he opened the folder and saw the name blazoned across the top of the truncated dossier inside, Kasai found himself biting back a groan as his earlier headache returned threefold. It figured that the man in front of him was looking for information on one particular individual that Kasai had no intention of giving to him.

Throwing the virtually useless file in his hand back on his desk with bothering to read further, Kasai gave the Hokage's Jounin Commander an unimpressed look as he flatly drawled, "Classified."

"Unacceptable," Shikaku snarled back without hesitation as he dropped yet another file on the desk. "That right there gives me the right to investigate the matter as the Head of the Nara Clan."

Kasai picked that folder up and skimmed through the handful of pages inside of it in order to get the gist of what it was that Shikaku had that made the man think he could demand answers. It didn't take him more than two minutes to realize that the man in front of him thought that Haruo was a long lost Nara that had slipped through the cracks. Kasai didn't know whether he should laugh the man out of his office or bash his head on his desk because of the potential mess that the Nara Head could make if he presented that information to the wrong person.

"The child is no Nara," Kasai flatly stated as he closed the file and slapped it back down on his desk.

"Prove it!"

"I already did."

"Not to me, you haven't."

"You're just going to have to take my word for it; that information is classified."

Shikaku's nostrils flared with anger and the shadows in the room condensed until they were pooled beneath the Nara's feet. The man then tucked his chin against his chest before he quietly stated, "I am the Jounin Commander. Haruo technically falls under my command; not yours. Therefore, I should have more than enough clearance to see the gaki's actual file instead of that redacted bullshit I was given after he earned his hitai-ate."

"Not in this case; the information you are asking for is far too dangerous."

"I am no a traitor," Shikaku hissed in an offended tone as his head snapped back up to level a furious glare at him.

"I never said you were," Kasai retorted with more than a little exasperation.

"You implied it!"

"I did not; I simply stated that the information you are looking for is too dangerous!"

Shikaku straightened up with a huff as he folded his arms over his chest and continued to glare at Kasai. Kasai ignored the younger man's theatrics and simply waited for him to accept the truth and move on. He should have remembered that a Nara trying to unravel a mystery was worse than a ninken on the hunt; if he had, he wouldn't have been surprised when Shikaku refused to accept facts and instead moved onto a different line of attack in order to get the information he wanted.

"I have proof that Nara Ensui was in the right place at the right time to sire Haruo twelve years ago. All I have to do is drag Haruo to the hospital and present my case in order to have one of the medics draw the blood necessary to perform a paternity test."

"You're barking up the wrong tree, Nara; the boy is _not_ one of yours."

"And I have evidence that says he is! Not the least of which is the fact that the dominate stag of the small herd that we keep in the village adopted the gaki the first time he set foot on our estate!"

"Chikushou," Kasai muttered under his breath as he immediately deduced that it was probably the deer's reaction that had convinced Shikaku that the kid was a long lost cousin.

That was also the moment that Kasai realized that Shikaku was not going to let the matter drop until he got what he wanted. Knowing that, Kasai figured that there were only two ways he could handle this; he could either give the man the information he wanted or he could lock the stubborn fool in a cell until he agreed to stop digging. As much as he would love to go with the latter option, Kasai knew that the Sandaime would be more than a little upset with him if he tossed his Jounin Commander in a cell without his permission.

Irritated over the fact that he'd just been backed into a corner, Kasai glared at the now smug Nara for a long minute before he grudgingly dug Haruo's unfiltered file out from the pile on his desk. He then offered the much thicker folder to Shikaku but didn't immediately release his hold on the folder after the other man had grabbed hold of it. If he was going to give the man what he wanted, then he was going to make damn sure that the man realized how disastrous it would be if that knowledge got back to the wrong people.

"Nara, before I allow you to even crack that folder open, allow me to make one thing perfectly clear; that file and the information it contains does _not_ leave my office. That means that you are _not_ allowed to speak about what you are about to learn to _any_one for _any_ reason without my express permission. That includes speaking to the gaki in question. No one, and I do mean no one, is to know that you know the full extent of Haruo's heritage and abilities."

"Understood," Shikaku lazily drawled even as his eyes sharpened with interest as he dropped his gaze down to the folder in question and gave it a little tug in a silent request for Kasai to release it.

It was with great reluctance that Kasai allowed the file to leave his hand before he leaned back in his chair so that he could watch Shikaku's face as the man dove into the folder. The play of emotions on the man's face as he read through the file was both entertaining and telling. A startled scowl marked the point where Shikaku discovered Haruo's true age, Haruo's place of birth brought forth a thoughtful frown, an arched eyebrow and a skeptical twist of his mouth was an indication that he liked the idea of 'magic' about as well as Kasai himself did, and the look of surprised comprehension told Kasai that Shikaku had either just learned the nature of Haruo's Kekkei Genkai or the identity of his father.

"Does the child truly have the Shodai's Mokuton?" Shikaku demanded in an incredulous tone.

"Aa, the version he carries has been mutated from the Mokuton's original form but it is undeniably the Mokuton."

"Mutated how?"

"Haruo's Mokuton is far more… versatile than the Shodai's vaunted Kekkei Genkai. Instead of turning everything he grows into Hashirama Trees, he is able to grow a wide variety of trees, shrubs, and plants so long as he has a piece of what of what he wishes to grow. Seeds, bulbs, and proper cuttings work best but he can also grow a willow tree from a bit of bark; though doing so will sap his reserves far faster than growing, say… an oak tree from an acorn."

"That would certainly explain the rather unique garden my son described to me. Have you been able to determine what caused the mutation?"

"Not with any certainty but the most likely theory is that the abilities he inherited from his mother played a significant role in altering the Kekkei Genkai on a genetic level. There is also a slight possibility that the extensive genetic tinkering Orochimaru performed on his father in order to gift him with the Shodai's bloodline caused the bloodline to evolve in the next generation. And the last potential cause of the mutation was the failed killing technique that was used on the boy when he was a babe by the man that killed his mother and step-father."

"Does Haruo-kun know that his father is alive?"

"Yes; Kuma let that slip to the gaki on the night of the Mizuki Incident. Uzumaki also knows; he was present at the time Kuma revealed his relationship. Both boys are fully aware that they are not to share that information with anyone; hence the reason why Haruo still claims to be an orphan."

"Why was Haruo allowed to both attend the Academy three years early and graduate from the Academy one year early?"

"We were advised not to separate the child from his first friend when Kuma first brought his son to Konoha by a shade of his dead mother that resided within the child's mind. On top of that, any attempts to separate the two of them, even temporarily, usually led to a temper tantrum from the gaki that in turn triggered an outburst of his so called mahou. Such outbursts drew far too much attention to the child and, according to recent information we've been given, also placed the child's health at risk since magical exhaustion can be just as dangerous as chakra exhaustion."

Kasai allowed Shikaku to absorb that information for a moment before he continued, "So, in order to protect the child, we doctored his file to add two years to his age and allowed him to tag along with his friend. His early graduation was also factored in to the decision to allow him to start attending the Academy early and we purposefully held Uzumaki back two years to prevent the gaki from graduating as early as seven. The size of their graduating class was also adjusted to ensure that there'd be one extra body present to allow for him to be placed on a four-man team rather than the standard three-man teams."

"And then you took it one step further and saw to it that a former ANBU Operative was assigned as his team's Jounin sensei," Shikaku deduced as he returned his attention back to the file in his hand.

"A former ANBU Captain with a conditional summoning contract for a pack of highly trained ninken who was also both familiar with and familiar to both Uzumaki and Haruo," Kasai dryly corrected.

"It's only logical that you would have wanted their instructor to be a man capable of defending the pair from those that wish them harm, tracking them in the event that they are kidnapped, and have a decent chance at curbing their more… troublesome hobbies."

Kasai scoffed in response to the final part of Shikaku's comment before he dryly quipped, "You're assuming that Hatake hasn't been the one that intentionally taught them how to improve their blasted pranks in order to maximize the size of the mess, and therefore the size of the headache, each incident induces."

"Based upon what I've learned, Kakashi was hardly the only one teaching the two brats on the sly; I'd imagine that the rest of Inu's old squad, Koneko-chan in particular, would've been greatly involved in said training," Shikaku drawled in return. "Speaking of training; have you given any thought of how to train the other half of Haruo-kun's inheritance? Is it even possible for us to train him in the use of the gifts that he inherited from his mother? Based on the information in his file, the gaki has little to no control over his so-called mahou."

"According to the research we've done, we won't need to worry about that side of his training until he turns eleven; that gives us more than enough time to find a suitable instructor to guide him through the necessary training. Until then, his training can continue to focus on his physical conditioning and his self control in addition to weaning him off of his dependency on Uzumaki."

"Yes, I'd noticed that he was a little clingier than usual this morning; though that is not entirely unexpected given the mental trauma he would have experienced when he was made to believe that his closest friend had 'died' saving him from a trap that had been intended to 'kill' him."

Kasai grunted in agreement before he pinned the obnoxious clan head with a piecing gaze as he held out his hand and ordered, "Now that you have the answers you demanded from me; kindly return the gaki's file and then get the hell out of my office."

"Iie, there's one more thing we need to discuss before I go."

"And what would that be?"

"I need to give you fair warning that I intend to publicly claim Haruo's public face as a member of the Nara Clan."

"Damn it, Nara! You can't have him; he's not one of yours!" Kasai all but roared as surged to his feet while trying to ignore the particularly painful jabbing pain that just lanced through his cranium.

"Mendoukusei," Shikaku huffed as he sent Kasai an irritated look in return. "Will you calm down before you have a stroke? It would be far too troublesome to haul your ass to the infirmary for medical aide. I know now that he doesn't have a drop of Nara blood but that's not the point. His public file lists him as being born in Hi no Kuni and fast approaching his twelfth birthday. As I've already proven, there is enough 'evidence' to link him to the Nara Clan and it would be foolish not to capitalize on that erroneous connection in order to give the gaki another layer of protection."

"Kuma is not going to allow you to adopt his son."

"It's a little too late for that; my wife adopted him within twenty minutes of meeting him and that's on top of the deer claiming him as part of the herd. Even if that wasn't the case, you weren't listening. I said that I would claim his public persona; meaning that it would be the eleven year old Haruo that's a member of the Nara Clan and not the nine year old Haruo no Mokuton. Since he's technically considered of age as a Genin, he wouldn't even be required to move onto the Nara Compound. And he already has a standing invitation to visiting the Compound on a weekly basis."

"And how do you plan to explain his inability to learn the Nara's Shadow Manipulation Techniques?"

"You're assuming that he will be unable to learn Shadow Manipulation but you've clearly forgotten that our clan's techniques are strictly comprised of a specialized group of secret techniques handed down through the clan rather than a true Kekkei Genkai; anyone can learn them, providing they are taught how to use them. I wouldn't even have to teach him more than one or two of the lower level techniques in order for him to 'pass' as a Nara. His affinity with the deer will also help 'prove' his claim because everyone _knows_ that the Nara Deer don't tolerate outsiders."

Kasai stopped to actually think about what Shikaku was offering to do for the troublesome brat that had been a thorn in his side for so long. He grudgingly admitted to himself that allowing the man to 'claim' Haruo as a long-lost member of the Nara Clan would provide the boy with a nice little security blanket. At the same time, there were at least two big problems with letting the man do that; the first one was the boy's father and the second one was godfather. And he could at least predict how his captain would react. The same could not be said for Sirius Black.

After another minute, he decided that the matter was far too much of a headache for him to deal with personally and he let out a huff before he growled, "You're going to have to take that up with his father and godfather."

"Does that mean that you're rescinding the order you gave me not to speak of what I know to anyone outside of you?"

"No, that order still applies; after all, I only gave you permission to speak to his father and godfather about your intent to 'adopt' the gaki into your clan for his protection and you'll need to conduct that discussion here where there's no chance that you'll be overheard by the wrong person."

"Would you be up for a game of Shogi while we wait for both gentlemen to join us?"

"No, you can go track them down yourself and drag them back with you so that I can have a few hours peace in order to get some work done."

"There's just one problem with that," Shikaku countered with a trace of annoyance.

"And what problem is that?"

"There was no godfather listed in Haruo's file."

Kasai mentally chastised himself as he immediately realized he'd given up yet another piece of classified information without even a token fight. Growling under his breath, he level a pointed glare at the manipulative bastard across for him for a full minute before he got up and stalked to the door so he could send the first ANBU recruit he saw to fetch the two men in question. Once he'd accomplished that, he returned his seat and pointedly ignored the Nara Clan Head as he began putting away the files on his desk.

"Mendoukusei," Shikaku complained in a petulant tone before he propped himself up against the wall and began reading through Haruo's file a second time.

If Kasai had had an ounce less self control, he would have thrown something sharp and pointy at the man.

* * *

_May 20, 1990, 1:02 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Sirius stared at the scarred man that had just spent the last thirty-three minutes detailing the elaborate ruse he wished to enact. Under normal circumstances, he would wholeheartedly support the man's plans to prank the entirety of the Hidden Countries; it was hard not to admire a man who had balls enough to prank multiple governments. However, the large-scale prank that the man wished to pull wasn't one Sirius was sure he wanted to support. The problem with the man's prank was the fact that it involved the man 'adopting' his godson.

The former prisoner couldn't see the man's plan as a plot to protect Harry; all he saw was yet another attempt to keep him from his godson.

"Let me get this straight," Sirius concisely drawled using the refined tone of a pureblood scion in his irritation; his 'whiskey' roughened voice (a permanent souvenir from his brief but far too long sojourn in Azkaban) making him sound more like an educated pirate than a noble. "You expect me to endorse your decision to adopt **my **godson, whom I've yet to see since I arrived in this village last month, into your family on what basically amounts to a whim simply because your family's pet deer like him?"

"Essentially, yes," Scar-Face, which is what Sirius had just dubbed the man in his mind because he couldn't be bothered to remember his name, lazily replied while nodding his head in agreement.

"Yeah, no; I don't think so. I refuse to allow you, or anyone else, to take my godson from me again."

"No one is going to take the brat from you," Scar-Face countered as he frowned at the wizard. "The adoption will only be on paper in order to offer him the protection of a clan; he won't even be required to address my cousin Ensui, who was in the right place at the right time to 'sire' Haruo-kun's public persona, as father or live on the Compound. All that will be required of him is to visit the Compound a couple of times a month to spend time with his 'father' and learn a couple of clan techniques for show."

Sirius barely stopped himself from snarling in response to the logical rebuttal and instead spun on his heels to address the masked man that he now knew for certain was Harry's biological father and demanded, "_Why _in the nine levels of hell are you just standing there? Don't tell me that you're actually thinking about allowing that man to claim your son!"

"Haruo's safety is far more important to me than my pride and the misdirection provided by the 'adoption' would offer my son the protection of three powerful clans due to how close the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi Clans are to one another," Cat-Face answered without hesitation. "There's also the fact that Haruo would need to agree to the adoption before it became official since it would have a direct impact on his life. Knowing my son as well as I do, he'd agree to the plan simply because it would allow him to freely spend time with the deer whenever he wanted."

Sirius felt his anger and indignation abruptly vanish upon hearing that final comment about the deer. He knew Harry had loved animals as a baby and he'd been especially fond of Prongs whenever James had transformed; always squealing with undiluted joy each time James had let him see his stag form. Disgruntled over this latest unwanted roadblock in his way of getting closer to his godson, Sirius ran a hand through his hair and began pacing back and forth in agitation as he mentally argued with himself over the offer.

When his pacing didn't help him clear his mind enough to think rationally about the matter, Sirius stopped in his tracks and promptly changed into Padfoot. As soon as his form had fully transitioned into the large grim-like dog, Sirius sat down and began to vigorously scratch himself behind his right ear. With his eyes half closed in concentration, the wizard completely missed the shocked look that had formed on Shikaku's face in response to his transformation. He knocked a likely idea loose just a couple of minutes later and he switched legs to scratch behind his left ear while he considered it.

As soon as he had finished examining his idea, Padfoot dropped his hind leg and stood up so he could give himself a good shake before he transformed back into his human self. He took a few seconds to order his thoughts before he turned to meet Scar-Face's gaze as he stated, "I will agree on two… no three conditions. First, I want to be notified the moment Haruo returns to the village. Second, I want to spend a day with my godson before you ask him if he wants to be part of your family. And third, I want to be there when you do ask him so I can hear his answer for myself and make certain that you aren't coercing or blackmailing him into agreeing."

Scar-Face held his gaze for a moment before he shifted to glance passed Sirius to Cat-Face and Sirius automatically turned to look at the masked man as well. Sirius couldn't help but wish the man had taken off his mask; he really disliked being unable to read a person's expressions and he still hated the way the masks reminded him of the Death Eaters. All thoughts of masks and facial expressions would be forgotten a heartbeat later when his godson's father made an announcement that filled the wizard with both anger and excitement.

"Haruo is already here; his team arrived back on the seventeenth."

"That was three days ago; why the hell am I only just hearing that he's here now?" Sirius demanded as his lips twisted up in a snarl even as his inner Padfoot spun around in gleeful circles over the knowledge that his godson was somewhere in the village right now. "And how much longer would you have kept that information from me if I hadn't demanded to know when Harry returned before I agreed to the stupid adoption ruse that guy wants to pull?"

"As I said earlier, there's nothing more important to me than Haruo's safety. I had no plans to allow you anywhere near my son until you were mentally stable enough to handle the meeting. I also had no intention of dumping the knowledge of your existence onto my son while he is still recovering from his recent mission."

"Harry's in the hospital?" Sirius yelped as his anger abruptly turned to panic as he immediately pictured his godson covered in blood and barely breathing.

"Chigau, Haruo was not physically injured beyond a few cuts and bruises," Cat-Face calmly countered. "I was referring to the fact that he suffered from severe magical and chakra exhaustion twice during his recent mission and that he's still recovering from the second time."

"That's not reason enough to not let me see him. In fact, the fact that he suffered from magical exhaustion twice in such a short period of time was reason enough to let Moony and I see him the second he got back so we could make certain he didn't damage his core!"

Instead of answering right away, Cat-Face turned to glance towards Swirly-Face seated behind the desk and Sirius felt a spike of irritation lance through him when the man's behavior only proved to him that he was hiding something from him. Now, Sirius was never one to begrudge a person their secrets; he had a few of those himself but he drew the line at people keeping information about his godson from him. Before he could really get worked up about the lack of information, Swirly-Face gave Cat-Face some kind of signal and the man began speaking again.

"Haruo was greatly upset by an incident that occurred during the mission and he needed time to decompress in a familiar environment before his world was further shaken by introducing him to two new people from his past. There's also a possibility that the revelation that he has a living godfather who was not there for him for the past eight years will upset him enough to cause another outburst of accidental magic leading to him exhausting himself yet again when he hasn't fully recovered from his most recent outburst."

Sirius grimaced and allowed his irritation to fade; he knew magical exhaustion could be dangerous for children under the age of fifteen and doubly so for children under the age of eleven. That didn't mean he was happy with the knowledge that the man in front of him was willfully keeping him from his godson; he wasn't. In fact, he was pretty pissed about that. However, he couldn't fault the man's logic; Harry's health was important.

"There was still no reason you couldn't have informed me that he was back in the village," Sirius finally declared once he'd finished digesting Cat-Face's answer. "I may not be the most patient or the most logical wizard in the world but I would have been willing to give Harry enough time to recover if you had explained things to me properly."

Cat-Face merely shrugged in reply; the man obviously unrepentant about his choice. The lack of remorse from Cat-Face raised Padfoot's hackles and Sirius scowled at the man for a moment before he forced himself to refocus on the fact that his godson was in the village.

"I want to see him. Now."

"He's not home; he made plans to spend the entire day at a friend's house today."

"Let me guess… he also has plans for all of next week and the week after too," Sirius snarked back in response to Cat-Face's claim that Haruo was too busy to meet him today.

"Yes, he does; he made plans to spend every morning for the next week in his private garden and he has community service every afternoon for the next five days. His team will resume meeting on a daily basis for training on day six and while Haruo is currently on medical restriction, he's still required to show up for all team training sessions and he will be required to help complete in any missions that his sensei picks up."

Sirius let out a low growl of sheer frustration as he immediately drew the conclusion that Cat-Face had no intention of ever letting him see his godson. His hand began inching towards his front pocket where his wand was holstered in a special sheath that was sewn into the outer seam of the pocket where it was both close at hand and safely hidden. He froze against his will before he could do more than wrap his hand around the handle of the wand. Before he could figure out what was happening (he had no knowledge of the Nara Clan's Kage Mane), Cat-Face continued speaking.

"My son is a shinobi, Black-san; that's not just some fancy title, it's his job. He works for a living and he rarely ever has any free time because his job is what helps him put food on his table and clothes on his back."

"You're his father; why the bloody hell aren't you taking care of him?"

"I _am_ taking care of him. I taught him the language, taught him how to defend himself, taught him how to take care of himself, and taught him how to survive in this land. I also provided him the tools he needed to survive. I hid his relationship to me from the village and from him in order to protect him from _my_ enemies. On top of that, I also made arrangements for two safe havens to be set up within the village for him so that if one of my enemies did find him, he had a safe place to go."

"Then why does my godson have to work for a living at the tender age of nine?"

"Because that was the life he _chose_ to make for himself."

"And you couldn't be bothered to help him pay his bills?"

"Bills? What makes you think that Haruo has any bills he needs to pay? His rent and utilities are being covered by the shinobi that sponsored his enrollment into the Academy. I already told you that I supplied him with the tools he needed; that includes his shinobi gear, his gardening tools, and his kitchen appliances. His apartment was furnished by my former teammate who is also their current Jounin instructor. The only thing he's required to buy for himself is his food, any clothes that are not part of his uniform (such as t-shirts, shorts, and underwear), and his prank supplies."

"Prank supplies…?" Sirius parroted as he immediately perked up; his mood doing yet another one-eighty upon learning that his godson had stayed true to his roots as the adopted son, godson, and honorary nephew of the Marauders.

"Can we focus on the matter at hand? I don't have all day to sit here babysitting the three of you while you fight over a single boy like he's the last piece of pocky in the box," Swirly-Face interjected in an annoyed tone.

"Right, my other two conditions still stand," Sirius flatly stated as he abruptly remembered why he was here. "I want a day with my godson before anyone says anything to him about the fake adoption and I need to be present when Harry is told about the offer."

"I will speak with Haruo tonight and convince him to change his plans for tomorrow morning, or Tuesday morning at the latest," Cat-Face conceded after the annoyingly masked shinobi exchanged another brief glance with both Swirly-Face and Scar-Face. "I will also tell him about you, inform him who you are to him, and explain to him why you haven't been around in order to prepare him for the meeting in the hopes that it will prevent him from blowing up the moment he sees you."

"Make sure you tell him about Moony… er Remus too; 'cause I'm pretty certain he's going to insist on tagging along with me to keep me in line. He also knows more diagnostic spells than I do and he can check on Harry's core to make sure he didn't stress it."

"As soon as I have finished discussing the matter with my son this evening, I will swing by your hotel room in order to inform you which day he will meet with you."

Sirius gave a sharp nod to convey his acceptance of the arrangement. Another eighteen minutes were then spent discussing Scar-Face's plan before Swirly-Face kicked them out of his office. As soon as he was dismissed, he apparated himself back to the hotel room he shared with Moony. The only thing on his mind as he reappeared in the middle of the cramped room was the fact that he'd get to see his godson first thing tomorrow morning; the possibility that Harry might not want to see him right away never occurred to him. Now he just had to tell Remus.

"Mr. Moony! Where are you? Mr. Padfoot has important news! We've finally got a date with a junior Marauder first thing tomorrow morning!"

* * *

_May 20, 1990, 4:22 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Sasuke stalked out of the hospital in a foul mood as he ignored everyone around him. He'd been annoyed and frustrated since before they'd returned to Konoha and being forced to spend the last three days in the hospital had not improved his mood one jot. In fact, being stuck in the hospital had only made him angrier because he loathed that place with a vengeance due to the fact that being in that place brought back memories of waking up in the hospital after Itachi had murdered the entire clan.

Adding to his foul mood were the unfair punishments that had been thrown his way because his teammates were useless crybabies and his sensei was an unhelpful bastard.

Not only had he'd been forced to accept reduced pay for their most recent mission; he'd also been told he'd have to perform four hours of unpaid community service per day for seven days, had been informed that he was not allowed to do any unsupervised training, and been placed on what amounted to house arrest for the next for the next seven days. Technically, he wasn't supposed to have any tomatoes for the next week either but like hell he was going to allow his sensei to dictate what he could or couldn't eat.

That was on top of the fact that he'd been ordered to attend counseling sessions once a day for an unspecified number of days for some stupid reason.

He didn't know which punishment pissed him off the most; the fact that his pay had been docked unfairly, that he'd have to do unpaid chores at the Academy for the next week, that his sensei was yet again trying to keep him weak, or that he was forced to deal with the Yamanaka again. It never even crossed his mind that he might have done anything to earn said punishment or that the restrictions he'd been placed on were meant to allow his body time to fully recover from his recent injuries.

By the time he reached his house, Sasuke had decided that he was going to ignore the restrictions he'd been given; it wasn't like anyone was going to police him to ensure that he was following them anyway.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, he forgot to account for Kakashi.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Chikushou – damn/damn it  
Densetsu no Sannin – Legendary Three Ninja  
Haruo no Mokuton – Haruo of the Mokuton  
Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu – Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist  
Kuso – curse word  
Nani – what

**Notes:**

Swirly-Face – Sirius's nickname for Kasai  
Cat-Face – Sirius's nickname for Tenzou/Yamato  
Scar-Face – Sirius's nickname for Shikaku

Konoha's Greatest Enemy – okay, before anyone cries foul about me naming Orochimaru as Konoha's greatest enemy and brings up the Akatsuki, Obito/Tobi, or Madara, I should point out that at this point in the story, information on those three enemies is scarce. The Akatsuki has not yet made a ploy to capture their first Jinchuuriki and the identities of the individuals members is not yet widely known, Obito is believed dead, Tobi has not shown himself outside of his role as impersonating Madara, and Madara is also presumed dead. So, knowing that, it is perfectly logical for Orochimaru to be seen as Konoha's biggest threat with Itachi coming in a close second.

Padfoot's Nose – now, some of you might have expected Sirius to have smelled Haruo's scent on Tenzou the moment he changed into Padfoot but there are several reasons why he didn't. First, it has been almost eight years since the last time that Sirius saw/smelled his godson. Second, his time in Azkaban had a physical affect on both Sirius and Padfoot due to the amount of time he spent transformed around the dementors. Third, Haruo's scent changed slightly because his diet and environment changed when he moved to Konoha.

Fourth, Tenzou and Haruo would have a similar scent because they are father and son. Fifth, Tenzou has ways to hide scents on his person to prevent enemies from tracking him while he is in uniform and he would have at least guessed that Sirius could potentially scented Haruo on him while in dog form and taken steps to prevent that – this one was actually commented on by Sirius a few chapters back. And sixth, Sirius was far more focused on what he was being asked to allow than on what Padfoot could smell after he'd changed.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	34. Rules of Engagement

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four: Rules of Engagement

_May 20, 1990, 7:31 PM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Tenzou brooded in silence as he sat on the couch in the middle of his son's apartment while he waited for the boys to return from the Nara Estate. After the meeting with Shikaku and Black in Kasai's office, he'd gone to make certain Black had returned to his hotel room after he'd pulled his disappearing stunt before he'd gone to grill Inoichi in regards to the information on magic they'd received from the two Trueborn adults. He'd been less than pleased to learn that chest pains associated with accident outbursts of magic was a sign that a core was on the verge of collapsing or rupturing.

Of course, things might no be that serious in Haruo's case since there were other factors to consider.

Such as the fact that at the time he'd experienced said chest pains, he'd only just recovered from a bout of serious exhaustion, that he'd been under considerable emotional stress due to Naruto's false death, and then there was the uncontrolled manifestation of Haruo's wooden beams; any one of which could have been the source of the pain he felt. The fact that there were no lingering chest pains and that Tokage had been unable to find any evidence of an injury were reassuring. But at the same time, it was theoretically possible that the medic's diagnostic jutsu had been unable to identify a damaged or stressed magical core.

The only thing Tenzou could do was consult Lupin and Black on the matter and hope that they would be able to determine if there was anything wrong with Haruo's core. Black had already stated that Lupin knew the proper spells to test for potential core issues, so he knew they were capable of identifying any problems. He just didn't know if he could trust either man enough to allow them to know there was a problem to begin with. It also wasn't in his nature to offer up what may well be a potential weakness of his son to a near stranger.

At the same time, he didn't know if he could risk not telling the two Trueborns about the potential problem; if only because they would be in the best position to 'fix' it if there was an actual problem.

Tenzou was drawn out of his thoughts at that moment by the sound of the deadbolt on the front door sliding open. Naruto slipped through the door a moment later and effectively dismantled the traps around the door before Haruo followed him inside. Both boys then worked together to reset the traps before Naruto made a beeline for the kitchen with the tuperware of leftovers he was carrying while Haruo headed towards the back of the house. Neither boy paid any attention to the seated Tenzou; they either hadn't noticed him or they were so used to his presence that they didn't think twice about him sitting there in their apartment.

Instead of waiting for his son to notice him, Tenzou called out, "Haruo, come join me in the living room; there's a couple of things we need to discuss tonight before you go to bed."

"I'll be there in just a minute, sensei-nii," Haruo replied as he continued on his way to the bedroom without stopping and without glancing in Tenzou's direction.

In fact, the tricky little prankster had sped up as if he feared being delayed. The twenty-six year old snorted under his breath as he immediately deduced that the gaki was probably carrying new prank supplies on his person that he wanted to hide. And while they were not supposed to be playing any pranks right now and Naruto was banned from planning out any pranks, they hadn't thought to prohibit them from purchasing prank supplies while they were grounded. That was an idea to keep in mind the next time either boy needed to be disciplined.

The two boys would join Tenzou in the living room a minute and a half later; both of them sprawling out on the floor beside the couch before giving him their full attention. Tenzou mentally snorted at the picture they presented (that of a pair of excitable puppies) before he refocused on the information he needed to provide his son. He then removed his mask before he launched into the speech he'd been preparing since he'd left Kasai's office earlier.

"There're a few things that I need to speak with you about and I'm going to ask you to hold any questions you have until I have finished since most of your questions will be answered by what I have to tell you. Understood?"

"Hai!" both boys crowed in perfect unison.

"Good," Tenzou acknowledged before he focused his attention solely on his son. "Haruo, I know that you were aware that the mission I took before you left for Nami would take me to the Outer Countries but what I didn't tell you was that I had been sent back to England."

Haruo sucked in a sharp breath in response to his land of birth being mentioned but he held his tongue as instructed even though Tenzou knew his son wanted to ask him why he'd gone back there. Naruto casually prodded the younger boy with his foot and the green eyed Genin settled right down in response to the small reminder that he wasn't alone.

"Furthermore, the client for my mission was the same man that had requested the mission that had led me to you six years ago. This time, he'd requested an escort to bring himself and another man back to Konoha."

Tenzou paused as he watched the blood drain from his son's face. He was not in the least bit surprised by Haruo's reaction to that particular revelation; the man well knew that his son feared he'd be sent back to the Dursleys despite his attempts to hide said fear from him. He'd also listened in on the many little discussions that Haruo had had with Naruto about his nightmares; especially those that he'd had during his first two years in Konoha.

Instead of giving Haruo a chance to have a panic attack, after that short pause Tenzou firmly assured, "I did not have any contact with the Dursleys while I was there nor did I go anywhere near their house." Haruo immediately sighed in relief as the color returned to his face. "The reason my client and his friend wished to come here was, however, related to the fact that I brought you back with me to Konoha all those years ago."

Haruo let out a strangled squeak that sounded vaguely like the word 'why' but Tenzou ignored the small interruption as he continued speaking.

"There are several things that you need to know about my client and his friend. First, both men are Trueborn Sages; like you. Second, both men were close friends of your mother and step-father. Third, my client's friend was named as your godfather by your mother and step-father. Fourth, they both have valid reasons why they had been unable to take you in after your mother and step-father died. And fifth, your godfather's name is Black Sirius while the other man's name is Lupin Remus."

The scent of ozone briefly filled the room as the lighter furniture and loose objects in the room rattled in response to Haruo's magic leaking when his temper spiked sharply before it morphed into hurt. It didn't take a genius to know that Haruo was bothered by the fact that neither man had had anything to do with him over the past eight years but most especially during the short time he'd lived with the Dursleys. Tenzou allowed his son a moment to calm down before he picked up where he'd left off.

"Black-san had been unable to take custody of you due to someone else taking you out of the ruins of your mother and step-father's home. That person _refused_ to hand you over to him because he had orders to take you to someone else. Black-san would be arrested for a crime he didn't commit two days later and imprisoned without a trial because he had been framed by another friend who had betrayed your mother and step-father; that happened on the same day you were placed with the Dursleys. Your godfather had remained in prison until about two months ago."

"Lupin-san had been unable to take you in because he was deemed unfit due to an affliction he had been cursed with at an early age. He had also been unable to visit you while you lived with the Dursleys due to a complex barrier that was designed to keep all but a select few Trueborns away from you and the Dursleys and he was not one of those allowed to pass through the barrier. However, the barrier did not stop me because I'm not a Trueborn. Lupin-san had been aware of that and used that weakness in the barrier to arrange for me to remove you from the Dursleys home."

During his explanation, Tenzou watched his son migrate across the short distance that had separated him from Naruto until he was pressed tightly against the blond's side. Despite the obvious insecurity the nine year old was displaying, Tenzou was at least thankful that Haruo had not grown angry a second time and that he was not terrified like he had been when Tenzou had mentioned that he'd been to England or when he'd first brought up the Dursleys. He suspected that would change the moment Haruo realized that both men were currently in Konoha and that they wished to see him.

"Koneko-chan…?"

"Nani, Whiskers?"

"You said those two guys hired you to bring them here, ne?"

"That's correct."

"Does that mean they're here in Konoha right now?"

Haruo started in response to Naruto's question and it didn't take much for Tenzou to figure out that his son was on the verge of panicking again. He also wasn't surprised by that reaction due to how he'd reacted earlier. That particular reaction also made him doubly glad that he'd chosen to warn Haruo about the two men and their relationship to him and his parents ahead of time before taking him to meet the two adults. Instead of dwelling on Haruo's reaction or drawing attention to it, Tenzou answered the question while maintaining eye contact with his son.

"Yes, they are; they've been here since the end of last month and their applications for citizenship have been approved by the Hokage."

"Ano… you said they were here for me. Does that mean their going to take me away?" Haruo worriedly asked before he bit his lip and broke eye contact with Tenzou in order to exchange a worried glance with Naruto.

"No, absolutely not; they both fully intend to make Konoha their home. Nor will you be required to move in with them unless you wished to. As civilians, they have no say over where you live due to your status as a shinobi. Even if that wasn't the case, I would never allow them to force you to live any where you didn't wish to."

"I'll prank 'em till they bawl like babies if they ever try, dattebayo!" Naruto loudly proclaimed as he glomped Haruo; his blue eyes practically burning with flames of determination and Tenzou swore he could hear the faint rattling of chains.

Haruo just giggled in response to Naruto's declaration; his earlier fear and tension bleeding out of him. Tenzou knew his son would probably stress over the two men's presence a while longer before it really sank in that they had no intention of removing Haruo from Konoha or, more importantly (in Haruo's mind), from Naruto. The twenty-six year old couldn't even blame his son for not trusting the two strangers; _he_ didn't trust them. Of course, most of Tenzou's distrust stemmed from the fact that he was a veteran shinobi; he had been trained not to trust anyone without ample evidence that they could be trusted.

"Did either of you have any more questions?"

"Why didn't you tell me about them sooner?" Haruo tentatively asked as a small frown worked its way onto his face; his green eyes practically glowing as he stared soulfully up at Tenzou.

"I didn't tell you about them when I first left on my mission because I had not yet learned who they were to you and by the time I'd returned to the village, your team had left Konoha. I didn't tell you about them right after you had returned because I was far more concerned about your health in the aftermath of your mission. Truth be told, I didn't intend to tell you about them until you'd been released from your medical restrictions by Tokage and your godfather's mental health had shown a marked improvement."

"What do you mean by mental health? Is the guy crazy or something?" Naruto half demanded as his face scrunched up in confused concern.

"No, he's not 'crazy', though I wouldn't exactly call him sane either. Black-san suffered greatly during the years he spent in prison; he had been… tortured the entire time he was in there and it greatly affected him physically, mentally, emotionally, and magically. He is slowly getting better but it will take time before he can be considered fully healed."

"Oh."

Haruo's frown deepened before he asked, "If you weren't going to tell me about them until he was better, why are you telling me about them now?"

"There are a couple of reasons," Tenzou replied to buy himself a few seconds to carefully choose his words so he didn't break one of the conditions that Black had placed on his acceptance of Shikaku's plan to provide Haruo with another layer of protection. "The first is that I was required to inform your godfather that you had returned from your mission earlier today and he in turn wished to meet with you the moment he knew you were in the village. I managed to talk him into waiting until tomorrow morning in order to give me time to prepare you for that meeting."

"Another reason is that, based upon the information we collected from the two adult Trueborns, there is a possibility that your magical core might have been severely stressed during your recent mission. The only way we can confirm or refute that possibility is to allow another Trueborn to scan your core with one of their techniques; in this case, that would be Lupin-san since he knows the necessary techniques. And the sooner he can perform those techniques, the sooner we will know if there is a problem."

By the time Tenzou had finished providing the pair with those reasons he was currently able to offer them, Naruto was practically squeezing Haruo to death. In that moment, Tenzou was abruptly reminded that it wasn't just Haruo that was dependant on Naruto; Naruto was just as dependant on Haruo. _Both_ boys clung to one another very tightly but because Naruto was older, he didn't quite show it as often or as readily as Haruo did. In fact, Naruto's clinginess often came off more as protectiveness; such as the many times when the blond had shielded Haruo from bullies through the years.

Tenzou heaved a mental sigh; it was going to take twice as much work to wean _both_ boys off of their dependency. He perked up a little when he remembered that he could make Kakashi do most of the work; the older man _was_ their Jounin sensei. He almost deflated when he immediately realized that making Kakashi do the brunt of the work would likely see the man doing everything he could to get back at Tenzou. The still newly minted ANBU Captain was soon grinning internally once more when it occurred to him that he could use the Bridge Builder's mission as leverage over Kakashi.

The Tokubetsu Jounin's full attention snapped back to the two boys when Haruo piped up to ask, "Were those the only reasons why you're telling me about the other Trueborns now?"

"No, but those are the only two reasons you need to know at the moment."

Both boys gave him an annoyed glare in response to that answer but Tenzou easily shrugged it off; their little pouting glares had nothing on Kasai's searing glares. He'd just have to be extra vigilant once they were no longer grounded since withholding information and withstanding their little glares had probably just earned him a pranking.

"Was there anything else you wished to ask me?"

"Why do we have to meet them tomorrow?" Haruo demanded as his glare morphed into a scowl.

"There was no real point in putting off the meeting any longer now that your godfather knows you are back in Konoha and the sooner Lupin-san can check your core, the sooner we can establish if there's a problem."

"Any more questions?"

"No," the two Genin replied together.

"In that case, we're done here," Tenzou stated as he climbed to his feet and set his mask back on his face.

"You're leaving…?" Haruo asked as his brow furrowed slightly in distress.

"I have a few errands I need to run; I'll return when I'm finished. I'll also be going with you in the morning to meet with your godfather and his friend."

"Oh, okay."

Tenzou left through the floor (the apartment directly beneath the boys' apartment empty; as were most of the apartments in their building – quite a few of their neighbors had moved out within a month of the two boys moving in). He was half tempted to stick around and eavesdrop on the discussion that the two friends were bound to have in regards to what he'd just told them but he still had to inform Black that he would be bringing Haruo by first thing in the morning and he had to report back to Kasai about the potential issue with Haruo's core.

As soon as he vacated the empty apartment he'd used as an exit, Tenzou Shunshined across the village to save himself a little time. When he arrived on the roof of the hotel where the two Trueborns were staying, Tenzou took a moment to check in with Taka and Hiyou who were currently on guard duty. Once he'd determined that both men were where they were supposed to be and that there had been no problems, Tenzou dropped down off of the roof and merged through the wall of the hotel before he stepped out into the hallway that the Outsiders' room was located in.

Just before he knocked on the door to let the two men know he was there, Tenzou took a moment to mentally review how much information he was going to relay to the two men. Once he felt he was prepared, Tenzou sharply rapped his knuckles on the door twice. The door was opened just a few seconds later by Lupin and the werewolf promptly invited Tenzou into the room. Tenzou briefly wondered if the man had actually sensed his approach or if he'd been standing by the door waiting for him before he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

"About time! I was beginning to think you weren't going to show!" Black barked as he jumped out of the chair he'd been sitting in the moment Tenzou stepped into the room. "Now that you're here, there's only one thing I want to know; what time will Harry be here in the morning?"

"Before we continue this conversation, will you allow me to raise a privacy barrier to ensure that our discussion will not be overheard?" Kuma inquired as he ignored the question that the other man had asked him.

"Is that really necessary?" Lupin asked with a small frown as he closed the door behind Tenzou. "You watched us secure the room with privacy wards the day we checked in."

"It is," Tenzou insisted without even stopping to think about it. "The wards you placed on this room do not guard against all forms of eavesdropping and I'm unwilling to risk the chance that the information I'll be sharing with you will be overheard."

"How do you know our wards aren't good enough?" Black demanded with a slight scowl.

"I'm a shinobi; it's my job to know."

Black grumbled irritably in response to Tenzou's reply and the ANBU captain couldn't resist smirking at the man from beneath his mask. Not that the other man could see him. Still, tweaking the man's nose was quite fun; his reactions were quite rewarding. Lupin shot Tenzou an amused look, as if the werewolf knew that Tenzou had purposefully wound up the other man with his answer, before he addressed Black in another language that Tenzou didn't speak. Based on the languages both men knew, he suspected they were using Greek or Latin.

"Go ahead and put up your barrier," Lupin stated after they'd finished their little discussion.

Tenzou inclined his head in thanks before he took the barrier tag that Kasai had given to him out of his utility pouch as he strode further into the room. When he reached the middle of the room, he crouched down and slapped the tag onto the floor at the same time as he channeled a burst of chakra into the seal. The moment he pulled his hand back, a wave of energy pulsed outwards and the walls, floor, and ceiling flashed yellow before they returned to their original color; a clear indication that the barrier was active.

"The room is now secure from both intruders and eavesdroppers," Tenzou announced as his senses hummed with the faint pulse of chakra emanating from the barrier.

"Now that you're done with your fancy theatrics, I want to know when I'll be seeing my godson," Black demanded as he leveled a glare that was about as effective as Haruo's earlier glare on Tenzou.

"Tomorrow morning as agreed; the time will greatly depend on when he wakes up and how determined he is to drag his heels. Typically, my son is an early riser; so you can expect the three of us to arrive sometime between seven and nine."

"Three…? Who else is coming? Scar-face isn't planning on muscling in on my time with my godson is he?"

"Scar-face…?" Tenzou prompted without inflection as he tried to determine who Black was talking about; though he suspected that the man was talking about Shikaku.

"The lazy bastard trying to claim my godson," Black growled; his answer confirming Tenzou's suspicions.

"Nara Shikaku is a powerful man with the backing of three clans; for your continued health, I would suggest that you not insult him in the future lest one of his friends takes offense," Tenzou chided in a stern tone; the man behaving enough like a child that the Tokubetsu Jounin found it easy to chastise him due to all of the practice he'd received through the years with Naruto and Haruo. "And no, Shikaku will not be joining us tomorrow."

"I haven't the patience to sit and learn a bunch of names, Cat-Face," Black airily declared in return without any remorse or concern and Tenzou nearly rolled his eyes in exasperation the moment he heard the unimaginative nickname the man had assigned to him – it was nearly as bad as Naruto calling him 'kitten'.

"Could you please tell us who else you will be bringing with you tomorrow?" Lupin inquired before Black could say anything further.

"Haruo formed a very close attachment to his first friend and the two of them are nigh on inseparable. They also do not take kindly to any attempts to separate them. In light of their strong aversion to spending any time apart, I'll be escorting them both here tomorrow morning. If you expect to spend any quality time with Haruo, you'd best make plans to include his friend or he'll likely refuse to have anything to do with you."

"We have no intention of taking Haruo away from his friend," Lupin assured him and Tenzou briefly wondered if Lily had given the man the same warnings that her shade had given to Inoichi six years earlier.

"I don't care how many friends Harry drags with him so long as he's dragging them to see us from time to time," Black added a split second later. The man then frowned at Tenzou before he commented, "You know, I hardly think a little thing like my godson being overly attached to his friend warranted that fancy little light show you put on earlier."

Tenzou stared at the man for a full minute as he silently appreciated the irony that Black thought Haruo's friendship with Naruto was so unimportant when said friendship had been a huge deal from the moment it formed. He also couldn't fault the man for thinking of their friendship in that way since he was part of the small minority that wasn't aware of Naruto's status as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

"If you're assuming that the information I sought to protect was merely the revelation of my son's friendship, then you would be correct. However, since I had no intention of protecting something that's common knowledge, then it stands to reason that you are incorrect."

"What…?"

"He means there's something else he wishes to talk about, Padfoot," Lupin explained as he finally moved away from the door to take a seat at the table Black had been sitting at when Tenzou had first arrived.

"Well, why didn't he just say so in the first place?" Black huffed in a mildly affronted tone as he dropped back into the chair he'd vacated earlier.

"Behave, Padfoot," Lupin admonished around a snort of amusement. "You're welcome to sit down and make yourself comfortable since it sounds like our discussion is far from over yet, Kuma-san."

Tenzou acknowledge the offer but chose to remain standing out of habit and a healthy dose of paranoia; a chair would restrict his movements, after all. After giving the two men a moment to get settled, Tenzou dove right into the speech he had prepared for this meeting.

"Allow me to be blunt, gentlemen; the fact that I have a son is classified and there are only a handful of people in the village that are aware of my relationship to Haruo. It is absolutely imperative that Haruo is _not_ publicly linked to me as my son for his protection. That means that the two of you are not to speak of my relationship to my son outside of a privacy barrier like the one I raised in this room. Another piece of information that is considered classified is Haruo's true age; as far as the village is concerned, Haruo is eleven going on twelve."

"Why would you add two years to Harry's age?" Black inquired as his brow furrowed in confusion.

"It's currently against the village's policy to allow a child under the age of eight to attend classes at the Academy or for a child under the age of ten to take the graduation exam in order to earn their hitai-ate. The Hokage made an exception in Haruo's case due to the close bond that he formed with a boy three years older than him and the fact that any attempt to separate the two boys for any reason usually triggered an outburst of accidental magic. To prevent his early attendance from drawing too much attention, two years were added to his age."

"Allowing Harry to graduate a year early when that is against the normal policy seems counterproductive to keeping him safe," Lupin commented in a cautious tone.

"Under normal circumstances you would be correct, Lupin-san. However, steps were taken to ensure that any risks his early graduation posed were mitigated prior to his actual graduation. One such step was to assign one of Konoha's elite Jounin as his team's instructor. Another step was to arrange for him to be placed on a four-man Genin squad instead of a typical three-man Genin squad. Additionally, Haruo and his friend were provided with extra training from a squad of elite shinobi during their Academy years in order to ensure they would have the necessary skills to protect themselves."

"So you rigged things in Harry's favor just so he could stick with his buddy," Black interjected with a negligent wave of his hand. "Got it. Is there anything else we're not supposed to talk about aside from his parentage and age?"

"Yes, much of Haruo's background and his abilities are considered classified."

"Would it be possible for us to obtain a list of the information that's not classified so that we can go over it in order to familiarize ourselves with Haruo's 'public' persona?" Lupin requested while Black grumbled irritably under his breath.

Tenzou produced a copy of Haruo's redacted file and passed it to the Trueborn as he stated, "Any information you know that's not provided in that file can be considered classified."

"And how much of what we don't know about my godson that you've determined needs to be classified are we going to be allowed to learn?" Black demanded as he glared at Tenzou again.

"As much or as little as Haruo is willing to share with you."

That answer seemed to appease Black for the moment as the man's irritated glare was immediately replaced with a smirk of satisfaction the moment Tenzou had spoken it. He would have preferred to tell them that they would learn nothing they didn't already know but Black's status as Haruo's godfather meant the man did have some claim on his son despite how much Tenzou might wish otherwise. There was also a slight possibility that both men already knew the full extent of Haruo's abilities since they had been part of his life prior to his mother and step-father's deaths.

"May I ask why you can't just fill us in on what we don't know about Haruo?" Lupin inquired once he'd finished scanning through the truncated file that Tenzou had given him.

"There's a very specific hierarchy used in Konoha," Tenzou offered after he took a minute to consider the question. "A shinobi's place within that hierarchy determines the level of clearance he is given; the higher his level of clearance, the more information he is allowed access to. Coinciding with a shinobi's level of clearance is the level of authorization he has been given; which would allow him to distribute any classified information he has access to. A shinobi's rank, skill set, trustworthiness, and his proximity or relationship to the source or subject of the information all play a factor in determining a shinobi's level of clearance and level of authorization."

"In addition to a shinobi's level of clearance determining who is allowed to know what information, the information's level of classification will determine who has the clearance to learn the information and who is allowed to disseminate that information to others. Information that jeopardizes the security of Konoha or her citizens is most often placed under the highest level of classification possible and the number of people allowed to know that information and distribute it is usually limited to a very select group of people."

"In Haruo's case, his parentage, inborn abilities, and much of his personal history have been placed at the highest level of classification due to how dangerous that information would be in the wrong hands. If any of that information were to get back to my enemies, then Haruo would be targeted by assassins and kidnappers looking to end the potential threat he represents to them, turn him into a personal weapon, or in the worst case experiment on him and if they couldn't get to him, they would gladly raze Konoha to the ground just to end the potential threat he represents."

"Due to the level of risk that information carries, there are only two people allowed to share any of it; my commander and my son. Any one else caught sharing that information would be punished harshly and in most cases, would see the offender branded as a traitor to the village and executed on the spot," Tenzou finished in an ominous tone in order to impress upon both men the importance of keeping their mouths shut about what they knew about his son.

"Why don't you have the clearance to share that information?" Lupin inquired after several minutes of tense silence had passed while the two men digested everything Tenzou had just told them.

"Two reasons; one, I don't exist according to public records and two, the chances of the wrong person linking Haruo to me as my biological son are too high to risk it."

"Where do we fit into that hierarchy you mentioned?" Lupin asked next as he handed off Haruo's file to Black.

"Near the bottom due to the simple fact that you are new immigrants with civilian status."

"And how much of our background and our relationship to Harry is going to end up classified?"

"Most of it; simply because of who and what you both are. Keep in mind that the two of you and my son are the only Trueborn Sages living on this side of the Great Barrier and that your mahou will be highly coveted once word of your abilities spread due to the power it represents. Even if Haruo hadn't inherited that ability from his mother, his connection to you could potentially see him being used to force you to do things you normally wouldn't. Revealing your abilities to the public at large could also see Haruo's abilities being ousted because of that same connection."

"Damn it, James or Lily should have been here instead of us; either one of them could have used the _Fidelius Charm_ to protect that information," Black ranted as he dropped Haruo's redacted file and clutched at his head with both hands; the man obviously distraught about the existing threats to Haruo's wellbeing.

Tenzou felt an urge to make a snide remark in response to the man's behavior but gallantly refrained from doing so in light of Black's fragile mental state; Inoichi would string him up by his balls if he set the man's recovery back by several months due to petty jealousy. At the same time, Black's current behavior also made him wish that he'd put off Haruo's reunion with the man for another couple of days… or years.

"_Sirius, pull yourself together; now is not the time for you to fall apart!_" Lupin sharply snapped in English in response to Black's minor breakdown. "_Or have you already forgotten that we're supposed to meet with Harry tomorrow? How can you expect to meet your godson if you are a complete wreck?_"

"_I'm sorry, Moony; I've made a right mess of everything again, haven't I? It should've been me. I never should have told them to use Peter. I'd have gladly died for them. I'm so, so very sorry. I failed everyone!_"

"_Don't be so hard on yourself, Sirius; Peter had us all fooled._"

Tenzou politely pretended to ignore the two men while Lupin coaxed and bullied Black through his guilt trip while he was actually paying very close attention to the hushed conversation so he could pass the memory on to Inoichi the next time he saw the Yamanaka. Once Black had calmed down, Tenzou politely cleared his throat to remind the two of them that he was there. Black flinched in surprise and then flushed bright red the moment he realized his meltdown had had an audience.

"Did either of you have any more questions for me regarding the need for secrecy regarding certain information?"

"No, not at the moment," Lupin replied after a brief glance in Black's direction. "If we think of any after you leave, we'll write them down so we can ask you the next time we see you."

"Very well, the next thing that we need to discuss is the rules that the two of you will need to follow during the first handful of times that Haruo visits you."

"Excuse me…!?" Black indignantly demanded on the heels of yet another mood swing.

Tenzou heaved another mental sigh of exasperation and leveled an unimpressed look in the man's direction before he flatly explained, "Haruo and his friend are both shinobi; meaning that they are armed with dangerous weapons that they have been extensively trained to use with deadly force."

Deciding that the pair needed a personal demonstration of the point he was trying to make, Tenzou produced a dozen shuriken from his utility pouch and promptly used them to pin Black to the chair and table without drawing a single drop of blood. The wizard screamed like a little girl frightened by a spider and Lupin fumbled for his wand only to stop when he realized that Tenzou was holding his ANBU tanto to his neck. The vindictive side of Tenzou's nature felt inordinately pleased by the fear he could practically see leaking from both men in response to his little show.

"Even if you take away our weapons, we shinobi are deadly and dangerous," Tenzou added in a low voice laced with a trace of sadistic glee as he resheathed his sword, reclaimed his shuriken in the blink of an eye, and used his Mokuton to wrap both men up before they had even realized that he'd moved. "You could even go so far as to say that _we_ are the weapons. From the moment our children learn how to walk and talk, they are taught how to kill. Haruo's precious friend has already killed twice in the last seven months in order to protect Haruo and he would not hesitate to do so again."

Both men blanched in response to that revelation and Tenzou allowed them to have a few seconds to let that information sink in before he added, "Haruo beat an older, stronger teen within an inch of his life because the teen had hurt Naruto and the only reason he didn't kill the fool boy was because he'd already exhausted himself _before_ he beat the crap out of him. You may think your connection to Haruo's mother and step-father will protect you from their temper but it won't; to Haruo, you are nothing but a pair of strangers who he fears will rip him away from his oldest friend despite my attempts to assure him that I'd never allow that to happen."

"One careless word or seemingly threatening move from either one of you and the two of you would be lucky to survive the resulting backlash of violence from the two children let alone come out of the experience in one piece. Oh, and that teen that Haruo near beat to death? He'll be lucky to regain the full use of his arms and legs due to the severity of the damage Haruo had inflicted on the teen in his anger. And even if he should regain some use of his limbs, there's still a high possibility that his shinobi career is over; an outcome that would be seen as a death sentence to some."

"Now that you have a very clear picture of what the children are capable of doing if pushed; are you prepared to actually sit there and listen to the rules you will need to follow when you are in the presence of Haruo and his friend?" Tenzou demanded as he wound down his lecture and withdrew the beams that were binding the two men at the same time. "Or do I need to postpone your reunion with my son indefinitely in order to ensure that your mouth and attitude doesn't get you killed?"

"We will hear you out," Lupin hoarsely avowed once he'd regained a measure of composure.

Tenzou nodded once in acknowledgement before he stated, "The first and most important rule that you need to follow is; do not initiate any form of physical contact. You need to wait for Haruo to initiate all physical contact. Haruo is a very tactile child but he's very picky about who he allows to touch him and he will react negatively if you grab hold of him when he isn't expecting it. Once he feels more comfortable around you, he may allow you to initiate physical contact in return but that will depend on how much of his trust you are able to earn."

"The second most important rule is; do not make any threatening or overly aggressive gestures. That includes pointing your wands directly at either boy. If you appear to be a threat, they will respond accordingly. If you need or wish to use any techniques on the children, then you will need to obtain their permission before you even draw your wand. It goes without saying that that particular rule should also be applied to any shinobi you come into contact with; the only two exceptions would be if you were attacked by an enemy or in the event of a life threatening emergency."

"The third most important rule is; do not request any information regarding missions from Haruo or his friends. Mission details are generally classified and he's not allowed to discuss his missions with civilians. You may, however, ask him how a mission went or if he was injured on a mission. You may also ask him to inform you when his team will be leave on their next mission, when they can be expected to return, and where they are headed to; though he may not be allowed to answer questions of that nature if that information has been restricted for the client's protection."

"Do you have any questions regarding those three rules?" Tenzou asked as he glanced between the two men to ensure that they were both following him. When both Trueborns gave him negative responses, he continued, "The rest of the rules are fairly straight forward; do not make any attempts to remove Haruo or his friend from the village, do not attempt to separate the boys, do not try to manipulate them into turning against one another or the village, do not verbally attack either boy, and do not make any attempts to interfere with their training."

"So long as you abide by those rules, then there shouldn't be any problems during your visits with Haruo. Should you choose to ignore those rules, then you will have to deal with the consequences of your actions. In the case of the first two rules, those consequences can include death, dismemberment, disfigurement, and hospitalization. Should you break the third rule, you would face execution on charges of espionage. If you break any of the remaining rules, you can expect to face abject humiliation and potential hospitalization on top of alienating my son and upsetting his Jounin sensei."

Black let out a derisive snort before he drawled, "So, no pressure then, eh?"

"Behave, Padfoot," Lupin reflexively ordered as he ran a weary hand over his face. He dropped his hand half a minute later and steadily met Tenzou's gaze as he asked, "Do you intend to supervise all future visits?"

"For the first month, yes; if I am unavailable, then another adult that Haruo knows and trusts will be present. After that, whether or not your visits will be supervised will depend greatly on how comfortable my son feels in your company."

"Fair enough," Lupin replied while Black merely grumbled under his breath about over-protective mother hens in stupid masks. "I'll keep Sirius on a short leash and make certain he follows all of the rules." Black gave voice to a wordless protest in response to the allusion that he was too flighty to follow a few rules on his own that was ignored by both Lupin and Tenzou. "Is there anything else we need to know before we meet with Harry and his nameless friend tomorrow morning?"

"No, I believe that we've covered everything I needed to discuss with you that pertains to your initial reunion with my son. Though, I should probably warn you that both boys will be a touch defensive at first and that you should try not to be overly friendly with them until they have a chance to get used to your presence."

"Oh, good, that means you can take your ugly mask-mug and get lost!" Black declared as he jumped up out of his chair and began making shooing gestures at the ANBU Captain.

"Sirius!" Remus half groaned and half hissed in embarrassment.

"There's one final topic I wish to discuss with you before I take my leave," Tenzou firmly interjected as he ignored Black's rude attempt to chase him out of the room.

"If this is about Scar-Face trying to steal Haruo…" Black warningly growled as he curled his hands into fists.

"Chigau; what I need to speak to you about has nothing to do with Shikaku's offer," Tenzou corrected as he raised his voice just enough to cut the older man off before he could finish his sentence. "And everything to do with my reason for not allowing Haruo to put off meeting you for as long as humanely possibly. Black-san, do you recall what I told you this afternoon about my son exhausting himself twice over within a short period of time while on his previous mission?"

"Yeah, I remember that; kinda hard to forget the heart attack you damn near gave me because I thought you were implying that Harry was near death and in the hospital when you first brought it up."

Tenzou silently acknowledged the man's answer before he reluctantly stated, "Just prior to the outburst that led to his second bout of severe chakra and magical exhaustion, Haruo experienced a sharp pain in his chest and claimed he had felt something in his chest snap right before he trounced the teen he had been fighting. I know part of the pain he felt at the time was due the overwhelming grief he had been experiencing due to the belief that his friend had died to save him but that wouldn't explain the 'snap' he felt."

"Once he regained consciousness several days after the fight, he complained of lingering chest pains even though he had not sustained any chest injuries during the fight. The medic that examined him upon his return three days ago was unable to pinpoint the cause of the 'phantom' pains that Haruo had been experiencing. He has not experienced any chest pains since he first woke up and his earlier minor outburst didn't cause him any pain but I did not wish to take any risks after I had reviewed the information on core damage that Lupin-san had provided in his interview with Inoichi."

Both Trueborns blanched in response to the revelation that Haruo's magical core had potentially been stressed to the point where it might have been damaged and Black bonelessly collapsed back into his chair before he buried his face in his hands. Lupin was handling the information a little better than Black but it was clear that he too had been upset by the implications that Haruo's magical core could potentially be on the verge of collapse or rupture.

"You have my word that I will do an in depth scan of his core first thing tomorrow morning," Lupin promised once he had regained control of his emotions.

Tenzou felt that part of him that had been worried about his son's health since he'd visited Inoichi earlier relax the moment he had secured Lupin's cooperation. He would then spend another ten minutes with the two wizards making certain they were prepared the upcoming meeting with his son before he dropped the privacy barrier and left so that he could give Kasai his report.

By the time his commander dismissed him, it was well after two in the morning and Tenzou wearily made his way back to Naruto and Haruo's apartment so he could catch a few hours of sleep before he had to get the boys up. He had almost reached the apartment complex when he sensed Haruo's chakra signature hovering several meters above the roof of the building. Tenzou uttered a soft sigh as he quickly deduced that his son had either woken up looking for him or he'd been driven from bed by another nightmare.

It looked like it was going to be a while longer before he could get any rest.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Ano – um/uh/er  
Gaki – brat  
Hai – yes  
Nani – what

**Kuma's ANBU Squad:**

Kuma [Captain] (Bear) – Tenzou (just in case anyone forgot)  
Yagi (Goat) – Namiashi Raidou  
Taka (Hawk) – Gekkou Hayate  
Karasu (Crow) – Shiranui Genma  
Uma (Horse) – Nara Ensui (Inu's replacement, minor canon character introduced in Naruto Shippuden Episode 266)  
Hiyou (leopard/panther) – Yamanaka Santa (Neko's replacement, minor canon character introduced in Naruto Shippuden Episode 266)

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	35. Padfoot and Moony

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five: Padfoot and Moony

_May 21, 1990, 1:21 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Haruo bolted upright with a short scream that cut off the moment he realized that it was Naruto clutching his shoulder and not his uncle. It only took another two seconds for him to figure out that his friend had just woken him up from yet another nightmare about the Dursleys; this one inspired by the revelation that he had a godfather and that the man and his friend had come to Konoha for him. The mere possibility that the two men would drag him back to the Outer Countries and take him away from Naruto and his father terrified him.

Sure, his father claimed the men didn't want to take him away but what if they had lied to him?

He never wanted to leave Konoha… well, going on missions would be fine but other than that he didn't want to be taken away from Konoha permanently.

Konoha was home.

"Are you going to be okay now, Haruo?" Naruto asked; the blond's voice cutting through the fog of fear that had been clinging to Haruo's mind.

Haruo just shrugged his shoulders once before he leaned against his friend. He felt more than heard the older boy let out a sigh before he simply wrapped an arm around Haruo's shoulders. The nine year old soaked up the proffered comfort as his heart rate slowly returned to something resembling normal. After a couple of minutes, Naruto groggily pulled them both back down on the bed so that they would be more comfortable. His best friend would fall back to sleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow but Haruo didn't mind.

Haruo had far more trouble getting back to sleep. He actually didn't want to fall asleep again. He was far too worried that he'd have another nightmare. And the room felt rather hot and stuffy. After staring up at the ceiling for a good twenty minutes while he listened to Naruto quietly mumble in his sleep, Haruo slipped out of bed and silently made his way to the sliding glass door that opened up onto the private balcony that was attached to their apartment. He took a moment to dismantle the traps around the door before he carefully opened it while being very careful not to let the door squeal in its tracks before he slipped outside.

He left the door open behind him at that point and carefully climbed up the old wrought iron access ladder that led up to the roof of their apartment building. Once on the roof, he immediately climbed up the utility pole that sat directly over their apartment and perched himself up on the very top of the pole above the twin transformers that were bolted to it. He had barely settled himself in place when a large Ural owl landed on his left shoulder without warning.

Long used to animals seeking him out, Haruo stuck himself to the pole with chakra so he didn't fall over and used more chakra to reinforce the skin and muscles of his left shoulder to prevent the bird's talons from breaking skin. As soon as the owl stopped moving, the young Genin reached up to stroke its breast while he absently gazed out over the village without really seeing it; his mind half stuck on his recent nightmare and half worrying over the coming meeting with his godfather. The owl hooted a couple of times in contentment before it promptly began preening the short strands of hair behind Haruo's left ear.

Over the next hour, the lone owl would be joined by a half a dozen Japanese house bats that had taken up residence on his back; their tiny claws clinging tightly to his shirt as they pressed themselves flush against his back. The owl had voiced a protest or two over sharing him with the flying rodents but thankfully made no attempts to eat any of the bats; the winged predator preferred to feast on other birds. The disgruntled owl also didn't make any attempts to chase the bats off despite the fact that it was displeased over having to share Haruo.

It helped that the bats didn't seek any affection from the nine year old and thereby steal said affection from the avian; the small mammals perfectly content to just be near Haruo.

Haruo wasn't too bothered by the bats since the only animal he didn't like was Tora; the vicious demon cat that Kakashi had forced them to chase down several times. Naruto didn't really like the bats though; their shrill cries drove him crazy because he had a better sense of hearing than Haruo did. Of course, very few of the animals actually liked being around Naruto because of the Kyuubi; the only exception being the summonses that used to watch over them and those animals that visited Haruo often enough to get used to Naruto's presence.

A half an hour after the last bat had perched itself on Haruo's back, Haruo's wild company would be chased off by his father lightly landing on the cables directly behind him. The only reason Haruo hadn't been spooked as well by his sudden appearance was because he'd sensed his father drawing closer for the last eight and a half minutes and he'd known that his father had probably sensed him in return. Haruo released a heavy sigh over the fact that the critters had been scared off before he leaned backwards to meet his father's gaze.

"Were you out here waiting for me or did another nightmare chase you out of bed?" Kuma quietly asked the moment Haruo made eye contact with him. Haruo grimaced in response to the question before he sat up so he could curl in on himself and his father issued a heavy sigh of his own; his silence answer enough for his father to figure out he'd had another nightmare. "Will you at least tell me how long you've been up here?"

"Exactly one hour, thirty-six minutes, and seven seconds as of two seconds ago," Haruo answered after a brief hesitation.

"And how much longer do you plan to stay out here?"

Haruo just shrugged his shoulders in reply; he wasn't really sure he wanted to stay outside much longer but he wasn't really in any hurry to go back to sleep yet either. He didn't want to just sit inside of his and Naruto's apartment either though; he'd felt far too stifled and trapped inside, otherwise he'd have stayed in bed in the first place instead of heading up to the roof. Actually, what he really wanted was to be in his garden but he didn't want to go all by himself and Naruto obviously wasn't going anywhere because he was asleep.

"In that case, why don't you come down to the kitchen with me and I'll make you a mug of hot chocolate?"

After giving the suggestion a good deal of thought (for a whole whopping fourteen seconds – there _had_ been an offering of chocolate on the table), Haruo nodded in agreement. As soon as he agreed, his father scooped him off the utility pole and transported them into the apartment by traveling through the wooden pole and the ceiling. Haruo loved the feeling of traveling through wood and couldn't wait until Kuma taught him how to do it himself. The only reason he hadn't already been taught how to do it was because it required a far higher level of chakra control than he was currently capable of maintaining.

To attempt to travel through a wooden object without that control would be to risk becoming half trapped inside of the object and losing a limb or getting trapped inside of the object and suffocating to death. Traveling through a living tree was even more dangerous because you had to account for the nature energy that the tree produced throughout its lifetime. Without precise chakra control, you ran the risk of absorbing too much nature energy and if you did that, then you'd end up turning yourself and the tree you were in to stone; immediately killing yourself.

Haruo didn't think it was possible for him to be turned to stone that way though, because his body naturally absorbed nature energy all the time. However, it was possible that anyone he dragged through the trees with him could be turned to stone. It was the fear that he'd turn Naruto to stone if he ever dragged the blond through a tree with him that kept him from trying to teach himself how to travel through the trees with Naruto to make it easier to escape after playing a prank. He couldn't even practice with one of Naruto's shadow clones because the moment the clone 'died', it would transfer all of that nature energy to Naruto and turn him to stone anyway.

Once they reached the kitchen, Kuma set Haruo on his feet so he could make the hot chocolate. Haruo chose to take a seat on the counter not far from the stove so that he could watch his father make it. Rather than boiling water and pouring it into a mug with a packet of store-bought cocoa mix, Kuma made the drink from scratch using milk, dark chocolate (grated), sugar, and a little vanilla extract to take the edge off of the bitter taste of the chocolate. The end result was a delicious hot beverage that was rich and creamy but not overly sweet and lacked the grainy residue that most cocoa mixes left behind.

Eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds later, Haruo was lazily swinging his legs back and forth as he sat on the counter sipping from the mug of hot chocolate in his hands. Just a few inches to the left, his father was leaning back against the counter with another mug in hand. The silence between them stretched out for several minutes as they nursed their drinks until Kuma set his empty mug on the counter and glanced sideways to study Haruo for a moment before he finally spoke.

"You've had nightmares every night since you got back," Kuma stated matter-of-factly. "Kakashi also informed me that you'd been having nightmares pretty much every night since you regained consciousness on the fourth." Haruo didn't say a word as he stared down into the last inch of hot chocolate in his mug; there was nothing he could say even if he'd wanted to say anything – his father had only spoken the truth, after all. "Are you having nightmares about what happened on the bridge or is there something else bothering you?"

"Mostly about what happened on the bridge."

"And those nightmares that aren't about what happened on the mission? What are they about?"

Haruo hesitated a moment before he admitted, "The Dursleys."

"Were you dreaming about the Dursleys tonight?"

"Aa."

"You do know that I will never allow any one to take you back to them, ne?" Kuma gently pointed out as he turned to face Haruo fully before he reached out to cup Haruo's chin in order to gently force him to meet his gaze. "And should anyone ever manage to take you from me for any reason, I would move heaven and earth to get you back. It also goes without saying that the ahou that took you from me would not live long enough to make a second attempt."

"Arigatou, sensei-nii," Haruo murmured as he threw his arms around his father's neck… and spilled the last of his hot chocolate down the back of the man's shirt as he'd completely forgotten that he still had his mug in his hands and that he hadn't finished his drink.

"You're welcome, musuko; but next time put your cup down before you hug me."

"Gomen, sensei-nii, I forgot I had been holding it."

Kumo let out a skeptical hum but didn't actually come right out and say he didn't believe Haruo. Haruo immediately made a mental note to have Naruto help him prank his father for assuming the worst in addition to his earlier admission of withholding information as soon as they were no longer grounded. He couldn't believe his father thought he'd willingly waste good chocolate on such an amateur prank. Now… if it had been cold water in his cup, then he would have gladly set up such a prank and claimed responsibility for it too. His plotting was soon disrupted when his father spoke up again and brought the conversation back to the original topic.

"You do realize that you're going to have to sit down and discuss everything that's been bothering you with Inoichi, ne?"

"Do I have to…?"

"Yes."

"That sucks."

"So, you'd prefer to have nightmares every night?"

"No!"

"Then don't complain about talking to Inoichi; his job is to make your memories less scary so they don't haunt your dreams."

"Still sucks."

"Duly noted, gaki," Kuma dryly commented before he reached out to ruffle Haruo's hair while also giving his head a gentle push. "Is there anything else bothering you aside from your earlier nightmare?" Haruo dropped his gaze to the empty mug in his hand and shrugged his shoulders instead of verbally answering the question. "Are you still stressing about meeting Black-san and Lupin-san later this morning?"

When Haruo didn't answer that question either, his father confiscated his mug, lifted him off of the counter, and carried him into the living room where he set him on the floor. Kuma then had him stretch out all of his muscles groups before he was instructed to meditate and practice shifting his chakra internally. Haruo lasted for all of sixteen minutes before he fell asleep in the middle of his meditation. He never even felt his father pick him up and carry him back to bed. Nor did he hear him close the sliding glass door and reset the traps that he'd dismantled earlier.

Haruo would wake up groggy and disoriented several hours later. He had a brief panic attack when he found himself alone but before he could bolt out of bed and tear through the house looking for Naruto, the blond entered the room with wet hair and a towel draped around his neck; a clear indication that he'd just taken a shower. Flopping back onto the bed, Haruo threw one arm over his eyes and pressed his other hand to his heart as he waited for his heart to stop pounding.

As soon as Naruto noticed that Haruo was awake, he announced, "Oh good, you're awake; Koneko-chan told me to tell you that you had to get up now or we're going to be late!"

The green-eyed boy uttered a groan of complaint in response to the abrupt reminder that he was supposed to be meeting his godfather and his friend today. He then reluctantly dragged himself out of bed so that he could get ready. He may not want to meet the two men that supposedly had known his mother and step-father but he knew better than to make Kuma drag him out of bed. His father was far too likely to blast him out of bed with a suiton jutsu (and make him clean up the resulting mess) if he didn't get moving the first time he was told to get up.

Seven minutes later, he was sitting in the kitchen slowly working his way through a bowl of cereal under his father's watchful eyes while Naruto downed his fourth bowl beside him. Not really hungry enough to eat a second bowl after he'd finished the first one, Haruo drained the milk from his bowl before he got up and washed his dirty dishes. He then returned to his seat and dropped his head on the table to wait for Naruto to finish. In order to pass the time and keep his mind off of the men his father was taking him to meet, Haruo silently counted up to a hundred and back down to zero multiple times.

"Haruo, it's time to go," Kuma announced the moment Naruto got up to wash his bowl and spoon after his sixth serving of cereal and after Haruo's sixteenth round of counting.

The nine year old let out a resigned sigh before he climbed to his feet and headed to the door so that he could put his shoes on while he waited for Naruto. He didn't have to wait for long; Kuma had hustled Naruto along instead of allowing the blond to drag things out on Haruo's behalf. Less than ten minutes later, the three of them were traversing the streets of Konoha as Kuma led the two boys towards Northern District where most of Konoha's hotels were located. Haruo was half surprised that his father hadn't made them take the shortcut across the rooftops in order to save time.

He was also very grateful that his father hadn't rushed them across the village since it gave him an extra few minutes to prepare himself for the coming meeting.

Even with that minor delay, the three of them arrived at their destination far sooner than he preferred and Haruo felt like he was going to throw up the moment Kuma stopped in front of the correct room and knocked on the door. A voice called out from the other side and Haruo twitched nervously when he heard a loud crash, a brief cry of pain, and rapid footsteps approaching the door a split second later. At his side, Naruto snickered in obvious amusement as they picked up the sound of someone giving voice to a couple of very creative curses in English.

"I don't ever want to hear those words coming out of either of your mouths," Kuma preemptively ordered in a slightly annoyed tone as he glared at the door that still separated their group from those inside of the room.

Said door opened before the boys could respond to Kuma's order and they soon found themselves face to face with a prematurely aged man around Kakashi's age. The man's hair was light brown interspersed with gray hairs, a matching mustache and sparse goatee, blue eyes laced through with amber flecks, several scars bisecting his face, and the clothes he wore were old and threadbare if well cared for. The man's nose flared for a moment in a way that reminded Haruo of Inuzuka Kiba scenting the air before his gaze zeroed in on Haruo's face and his eyes grew wide with pleasure as a grin spread across his face.

"Harry, it's so very good to see you again after all this time," the man breathed as he opened the door wider so he could take a single step out of the room and Haruo instinctively shifted backwards until he was half hidden behind Naruto in order to make it harder for the man to grab him.

"His name's not Hari, baka, it's Haruo, dattebayo!" Naruto corrected as he frowned at the shabby man.

"I know," the man replied without hesitation. "Harry is the nickname that his parents had given to Haruo when he was just a baby and it's the name I knew him best by when he was a baby."

"_Damn it, Moony! Get out of the way! I want to see my godson!_" an irate voice ordered in English from behind the door leading into the hotel room.

"_Calm down, Sirius; or you're going to make Harry think you're angry with him!_" the scarred man, Moony, replied in kind as he glanced back over his shoulder.

"_I am calm, damn it! Now let me see my godson, Moony!_"

"_You're going to scare him away if you don't stop yelling at me._"

"_Are the two of ya just gonna stand there fighting? 'Cause, if you are, then we're so outta here,_" Naruto declared in English with a trace of annoyance and Haruo couldn't help but snicker over the way Moony (or was his name Remus?) arched an eyebrow in amusement over Naruto's mild threat.

Moony disappeared a split second later when a hand reached out and yanked him back into the room by the shoulder. A different man replaced him two seconds later. The new man had wavy black hair streaked with gray that hung down to his shoulders, a slightly scraggly short beard with a thick mustache, piercing gray eyes, quite a few stress lines on his face, and he wore brand new clothes that were fairly loose on his frame. The man, Sirius, searched the hallway until his eyes fell on Haruo and then he just sort of froze with a look on his face that was halfway between hopeful and fearful.

"_Harry,_" Sirius reverently breathed in English as he dropped heavily onto his knees a couple of minutes later. He then lifted one hand and stretched it out towards Haruo in supplication as he asked, "_Won't you come here and let your old dogfather get a good look at you?_"

Haruo remained firmly planted behind Naruto until his father reached out and pulled Naruto out of the way. The nine year old shot his father a betrayed look in response but all he got in return was a silent order to suck it up and go meet his godfather. Haruo pouted for all of two seconds before he reluctantly took a couple of steps closer to the man kneeling in the doorway as he returned his attention to the man that was supposed to be his godfather; taking care to remain just out of reach so the man couldn't grab him.

"_Merlin, but you've grown so much since I last saw you that I hardly recognize you, Harry. You still have your mother's gorgeous green eyes though,_" Sirius murmured as he drank in Haruo's appearance now that he was no longer half hidden behind the blond. "_Do you know who I am?_" Haruo just shrugged since he really didn't know the man even if he knew who he was supposed to be. "_It's been a long time but you used to know me as Uncle Padfoot; though you always called me Unca Paddy because you couldn't say my name right._"

The man seemed to deflate when Haruo didn't respond to his statement and Haruo would have felt bad if he wasn't so wary of the man. Haruo nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He still tensed up at the unexpected touch only to relax a split second later when he recognized that it was his father's chakra signature that was now standing directly behind him; meaning that the hand on his shoulder belonged to Kuma.

"Why don't the three of you come inside and make yourselves comfortable," Moony suggested as he reappeared in the door and pulled Sirius up onto his feet before dragging the subdued man into the hotel room.

Haruo cast a longing glance down the hallway before he reluctantly allowed his father to guide him into the hotel room while Naruto trailed along in their wake. The first thing Haruo did when he entered the room was to take note of the two unmade beds, the clothes strewn about the floor around the bed furthest from the door, and the trays of partially eaten food that were sitting on the table – the latter a clear indication that they'd interrupted the two men's breakfast. His attention was then drawn to his father when Kuma activated a barrier tag in the middle of the room.

"Now that the room is secure, I believe that proper introductions are in order," Kuma announced as he gestured for Haruo and Naruto to join him in the middle of the room and his father replaced his hand on Haruo's shoulder as soon as the nine year old reached his side. "As you correctly surmised, this is my son; Haruo. His friend here is Uzumaki Naruto. Boys, meet Haruo's godfather, Black Sirius, and his friend, Lupin Remus."

"Like I said earlier, Harry; it's good to see you again," Remus offered warmly (Moony must have been a nickname) as he smiled at Haruo before he turned to Naruto. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Uzumaki-kun."

"That's because we're awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto loudly proclaimed as he struck a pose and flashed the two men one of his overly wide grins that showed off his teeth.

"Oh, I think I like you, whiskers!" Sirius crowed around a barking laugh that had Haruo mentally comparing the man to Inuzuka Kiba; much like he had the other man earlier.

"What did you call me, old man!?"

"Oy! Who are you calling old, pipsqueak?"

"You! You old geezer! You look even older than jijii!"

"You did not just claim that I looked older than your grandfather, whiskers!"

"I only calls it like I sees it, old geezer! Don't like it? Don't call me whiskers!"

"If you don't want people to call you that, why do you run around with whisker marks on your face, whiskers?"

"I was born with them, dumb ass!"

"Watch your mouth, Whiskers," Kuma ordered as he reached out and lightly cuffed Naruto on the back of the head.

"Chikushou! If ya didn't want me to cuss, ya shouldn't have told the old fleabag to call me whiskers, Koneko-chan! It's bad enough that you and sensei have called me that for years!"

"I do not have fleas!" Sirius indignantly protested before he pouted worse than Naruto did when there was no ramen.

"Pfft… all dogs have fleas and the smell of dog on you is so thick you probably sleep with one," Naruto flippantly countered as he pretended to be offended by the smell and pinched his nose with one hand and wafted the other back and forth in front of his face. "And if you sleep with one that means that you caught its fleas!"

Haruo quietly snickered in response to Naruto's antics even as he began searching the room for the dog that his friend said he could smell; Naruto's sense of smell was almost as good as an Inuzuka's nose so he knew the blond was right about there being a dog somewhere nearby. He was rather surprised that the canine hadn't immediately sought him out the moment he entered the room like most animals did. That made him wonder if Trueborn pets were bonded to their owners like the Inuzuka's ninken were bonded to their partners.

"I do not sleep with dogs! I am the dog!" Sirius retorted before his form seemed to blur and shift until it turned into a large black dog that immediately barked at the blond and lunged forward.

Haruo's amusement vanished in an instant as he darted forward to plant himself between the dog that used to be his godfather and Naruto. In his experience, dogs always reacted to Naruto's scent in one of two ways; they either ran away from the blond in fear or they attacked. Kakashi had told them that it was because dogs could smell the Kyuubi's chakra on Naruto and the Kyuubi's chakra carried an undertone of fox. Because of the way dogs (all animals, really) reacted to his friend, Haruo ran interference for his friend since all animals liked him (a certain demon cat not withstanding).

The moment the big dog had seen Haruo stepping in front of Naruto, he tried to stop mid-lunge but he ended up falling over backwards due to the polished wooden floor and kept right on sliding until he crashed into Haruo who in turn was knocked back into Naruto. All three of them went down in a pile of flailing limbs with a chorus of yelps that soon morphed into war cries as their squirming devolved into a wrestling match as each of them tried to extract themselves from the tangled mess they'd ended up in.

* * *

_May 21, 1990, 8:29 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Remus palmed his face in embarrassment the moment Sirius had bowled over the two boys; this was _not_ how he'd pictured their reunion with Harry going. Although, he really wasn't surprised that the ordered meeting he'd imagined had devolved into a chaotic mess; Sirius _had _been present, after all. He knew he'd probably look back on this moment and laugh about it but right now he was far more concerned about one of the boys interpreting Sirius's moment of idiocy as an attack and react with violence.

Peaking out from between his fingers, Remus noted that the four children (he was counting Sirius as two!) were still rolling about the ground as they elbowed and kneed each other at every opportunity presented. He then glanced to his right and caught sight of Kuma in a pose that mimicked his own. He didn't know whether he should offer the man a few words of commiseration in response to the chaos or if he should wade in and break it up before the hotel's management kicked them out.

He wouldn't get the chance to do either as the room was suddenly engulfed in an explosion of smoke followed by the sound of some kind of bomb going off. Remus took a single breath so he could ask what had happened only to be hit with a fit of sneezes as he got a lungful of pungent sap and musty smoke. By the time he'd managed to catch his breath, the smoke had dissipated and he couldn't help but laugh when he saw a hogtied and muzzled Padfoot covered with a mess of sap and green glitter lying dazed on the floor while four identical blonds stood laughing off to one side with a smirking Harry.

"I don't care which one of you set off the Prank Tags but the two of you are going to clean up the mess you made right now," Kuma ordered in the put upon tone of a man long used to dealing with chronic pranksters and Remus couldn't help but smirk because it brought back memories of happier times when he and his friends would get caught in a prank by their head of house.

"Do we have to?" the four blonds whined in unison as they crossed their arms over their chests. "The old fleabag looks rather good in green, dattebayo!"

Padfoot immediately let out a whine of protest in response to the comment about looking good in green; if there was one color that Sirius despised, it would be the color green due to its association with all things Slytherin. And Remus just knew that the knowledge of Sirius's dislike for the color green would be used against him by Harry and his friend; the smirks on all five of their faces (the three extra blonds were still present) were enough to tell him that.

"Actually, I believe it would be more appropriate if Sirius was the one to clean up the mess; it was his shenanigans that caused the mess, after all," Remus interjected before Kuma could insist that the children cleaned up the mess a second time and Sirius whined a second time; this time in indignation. "I don't want to hear any complaints from you, Padfoot; I warned you to behave yourself today."

"That's okay; Naruto and I will clean up our messes," Haruo countered much to Remus's surprise; he would have placed money on the two boys being happy about getting out of cleaning up after themselves.

"Yeah, of course we…" Naruto started to agree before he actually realized what Haruo had just said. "Wait, what? No! Why would you say that, Haruo!?"

A mischievous little grin curled Haruo's lips up as he leaned down to grab hold of the rope securing Padfoot's legs together and slyly replied, "Two words, Naruto; flea bath."

Padfoot let out a muffled howl of protest and immediately tried to squirm his way free of the ropes the instant he'd heard the word 'bath'. The animagus wouldn't get very far thanks to the drying sap that had all but glued him to the floor and the wizard in dog form turned pleading eyes in Remus's direction as he whined loudly. Remus briefly considered helping him out but quickly came to the conclusion that Sirius's current predicament was his own damn fault and that he would just have to suck it up and deal with the consequences on his own.

"Ooh, good idea!" Naruto crowed as one of the extra blonds disappeared in a burst of smoke while another somehow transformed itself into a heavy quarterstaff and the third just smirked at the bound Padfoot. "We'd better not drag him through the room to the bathroom though; we'll get sap everywhere."

"I'll go start the water!" Haruo offered as he let go of the rope and bounded towards the bathroom.

The two remaining blonds then quickly levered the quarterstaff between Padfoot's legs before they lifted him off of the floor and carried him towards the bathroom. Padfoot wriggled and whined as he swayed back and forth upside down from the pole and Remus couldn't help but chuckle in amusement over the old hound being bested by a couple of kids.

"I'm surprised you didn't jump in to rescue your friend from further humiliation," Kuma idly commented the moment the bathroom door swung shut.

"Sirius more than earned whatever those two dish out in revenge for the stunt he pulled," Remus lightly pointed out as he sat back down in front of his abandoned breakfast and ignored the muffled sounds of barks, whines, and splashes coming from the bathroom. "Besides, bonding through pranks is a family tradition and one Padfoot will appreciate once he gets over the fact that he was the one being pranked." The werewolf then glanced sideways to meet Kuma's gaze before he added, "Though, I'm a bit surprised you're allowing Sirius to be alone with the boys."

"Who said they were alone with him?"

Remus blinked in confusion over the question before he suddenly recalled that the man in front of him was also capable of creating duplicates of himself. He briefly wondered when the man had made one, since he hadn't actually seen him do so, before he decided it was unimportant. His inner scholar was rather curious as to how the shinobi were able to create solid replicas of themselves but suspected it would be near impossible to get a straight answer out of them should he ask one of them how they did it.

Pushing aside his innate curiosity, Remus changed the subject and asked, "Did you already warn Harry that I would be testing his magical core today or will I need to explain that to him when they're done tormenting Sirius?"

"I'd discussed the matter with him last night but you will probably need to explain the process to him before he will sit still long enough for you to actually perform the necessary scans."

"Okay, I can do that. Can you tell me how much he knows about his magic? I mean, he is aware that he has magic and that he is a wizard, right?"

"Yes, Haruo is fully aware of his mahou and his status as a Trueborn Sage. However, there wasn't really much we knew about Trueborns aside from what little the summoning clans remembered from their histories prior to yours and Black's arrival in Konoha. So, while he is aware of what he is, he doesn't have any real understanding of what it means to be a Trueborn… or a wizard, to borrow the term you use to define yourselves."

Remus couldn't help but let out a slightly derisive snort before he dryly commented, "Few adult wizards understand what it means to be a wizard beyond the fact that they possess a power that they believe sets them above everyone else."

"I've known a few shinobi that are handicapped with the same mentality," Kuma drawled with obvious amusement.

Remus opened his mouth to comment but didn't actually get a chance to reply due to the door to the bathroom bursting open at that precise moment and disgorging a sopping wet dog whose fur had been bleached bright orange. Said dog scampered across the room as fast as it could before it slid to a stop beside Remus's chair and morphed into a Sirius Black whose clothes, skin, and hair had all been died bright orange.

"Moony! You have to hide me! They're menaces! Who the hell carries flea shampoo that's been doctored with bleach and orange die around in their pockets!? I don't care what I have to do in return; just don't let them take me alive! The little brats were talking about giving Padfoot a poodle cut!"

Remus tried to be understanding of Sirius's plight. He really did. For all of two seconds before he burst out laughing in response to the look of horror on his friend's orange tinted face. He couldn't help it. The last person who'd pranked Sirius that good (or that bad from the other man's perspective) had been the time that Lily had caught Padfoot in dog form stealing a whole pie off of the table. The werewolf couldn't help but think that Harry truly was his mother's son as he nearly overturned the table because he was laughing so hard.

Sirius wasn't nearly so appreciative of the humor that Remus found in the situation and the orange-clad canine animagus swore revenge before he transformed back into Padfoot and stuffed himself under the nearest bed the moment he caught sight of Harry and Naruto exiting the bathroom looking a little bedraggled and splattered with orange die.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Ahou – fool  
Arigatou – thank you  
Gaki – brat  
Gomen – I'm sorry (informal)  
Musuko – son  
Ne – used to solicit agreement or confirmation from the listener similar to using 'isn't it?' or 'right?' in English

**Notes:**

The Owl – No, the Ural Owl that showed up in this chapter was NOT a wizarding Postal Owl; it was just a plain ordinary owl that was drawn to Haruo. I haven't decided if Postal Owls will be capable of passing through the Great Barrier that separates the Outer Countries from the Elemental Nations yet. I still have 'two years' (at least according to the story's timeline) before I need to make a decision on that.

* * *

**04-15-17:** _More minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	36. The Diagnosis

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, some mild to moderate character bashing where unavoidable (mostly Dumbledore &amp; Danzou with some Sakura &amp; potentially lots of Sasuke), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, a number of original characters and obscure canon characters to flesh out family trees, random chosen last names to give a number of characters surnames, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _Partial credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King. For details, see the first author's note at the top of the first chapter._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Diagnosis

_May 21, 1990, 9:13 AM  
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
Elemental Nations_

Once order had been mostly restored and all of the messes had been cleaned up (bar Black; the poor man would be stuck as a walking orange for a while longer yet), the group had been seated on a couple of comfortable couches that had been conjured from thin air to replace the no longer needed table and chairs by Lupin. Black was grumpily sprawled in the corner of one couch with Lupin sitting on the other end while Naruto and Haruo had lumped themselves together in the middle of the other couch; leaving Tenzou to perch himself on the arm of the boys' couch.

The mature Mokuton user kept his gaze focused on the two adults while he silently monitored the minor fluctuations in his son's chakra as the nine year old's earlier nervousness returned two-fold. According to the clone he'd had keeping an eye on the two wizards from the moment they'd taken up residence in the hotel room (a failsafe he'd put in place to ensure that the two were not plotting to kidnap Haruo while his squad monitored the hotel itself for threats), Haruo's eyes were currently zeroed in on Lupin's wand; which the wizard was still loosely holding in his hand.

"Harry…" Lupin began only for him to be interrupted the second the nickname had left his mouth.

"Haruo," Haruo firmly corrected and Tenzou felt a brief surge of parental satisfaction over his son preferring to be called by his full name instead of the westernized nickname that Lupin and Black had been calling him all this time.

"Erm, right; Haruo. That's not going to get confusing for you, is it? I mean, with your father here…"

"No one calls sensei-nii 'Haruo'. Kasai-sama still insists on calling him Kuma but I still don't see why you'd call a man who wears a cat-mask 'Bear'," Haruo retorted in an offended tone and Tenzou's earlier sense of satisfaction withered away to practically nothing in the face of son's comment about his mask.

"Sensei-nii? I'm sorry, but aren't those both types of honorifics used to address a person?" Lupin inquired with a trace of confusion and the small spike in Haruo's chakra was a clear indication that his son was blushing.

"I was three and still learning Japanese when I started calling him that," Haruo admitted in an embarrassed tone.

"Why not just call him your father?" Black asked with a slight frown as he glanced back and forth between the masked Tenzou and Haruo.

"That would defeat the purpose of keeping our relationship secret," Tenzou dryly pointed out before Haruo could answer the question.

"Yeah, but what's to stop him from calling you that in private?"

"Habit," Haruo answered at the same time as Tenzou replied, "Consistency."

Naruto snickered in response to the dual reply and his mirth soon set Haruo to giggling as both pre-teens snuck a glance at the orange colored wizard sulking on the other couch. Tenzou would have rolled his eyes if it wouldn't have detracted from the professional (and slightly intimidating) aura he was currently presenting in order to keep both the children and the two adult Trueborns in line. The last thing he needed was to get caught up in a full out prank war between the sulking wizard and the two children.

"So, that's it? You're just going to hold him at arm's length and never allow him to form a proper connection with his father?" Black demanded as he dropped his sulking act and scowled at Tenzou while completely ignoring the antics of the two Genin.

"You don't get to pick on sensei-nii," Haruo growled before he bounced once of the glass disks that Tenzou had had made for his son's chakra control lessons off of Black's forehead; all traces of his earlier amusement gone.

"Ow!" Black yelped when the flat side of the disk made contact with his skull.

"As you can see, we've cultivated a satisfactory bond over the past six years," Tenzou blandly pointed out as he reached out and dropped his hand on Haruo's head in order to keep his son from attempting to prank or hit the man again.

"Padfoot!" Lupin chided in an exasperated tone a heartbeat later.

"Right, shutting up now."

"_Idiot,_" Lupin huffed in English before the werewolf cleared his throat and returned his gaze to Haruo. "Now, Harry… erm, Haruo, as I was going to say before we got side tracked; Kuma-san had informed me about the chest pains that you experienced when you performed your most recent bout of accidental magic and he asked me to scan your magical core to check your core's current health. Before I actually cast the spell though, I'd like for you to describe for me exactly what you felt just before and just after your outburst."`

Tenzou didn't need the prompt from his clone to know his son had immediately glanced at him in response to Lupin's question. Nor did he need for his son to voice the question that was so obviously on the tip of his tongue and rather than wait for Haruo to speak up, he kept his eyes on the other two adults as he answered Haruo's unspoken question in ANBU Sign Code.

'_Go ahead and tell him what you experienced; just don't speak about what you were doing at the time or offer up any mission details. And no cussing!_'

Haruo voiced a soft huff that Tenzou only heard because he was perched just a short distance away from his son. The nine year old then pressed himself closer to Naruto (in search of comfort) as he quietly stated, "It hurt. The world went dark when I thought Naruto had been killed after he saved me from the stupid girly ice-teme and everything was so cold it burned before it felt like something inside of me snapped. I don't really remember anything else after that. But when I woke up again a few days later, my chest ached and I couldn't sense anything."

"You couldn't sense anything? Do you mean that you felt numb?" Lupin inquired with a slight frown.

"My son inherited the ability to sense chakra from me; meaning that he's capable of sensing chakra and recognizing chakra signatures," Tenzou explained in his son's place in order to allow Haruo a little time to collect himself after speaking about one of his worst memories. "When Haruo spoke of being unable to sense anything, he was referring to the temporary loss of his ability to sense the chakra of others either due to his exhausted state at the time or because of a temporary Chakra Disruption Seal that had been placed on him for his protection."

"What exactly is chakra? Is that the word you use to refer to your magic?"

"No, chakra is an internal power that all shinobi are taught to harness and it's made up of a person's mental and physical energies while I was told that mahou is made up of a person's spiritual energy and the nature energy that a Trueborn absorbs from the world around them."

"Oh, what you call chakra we call our life force," Lupin murmured in response to Tenzou's explanation. "And shinobi have truly learned how to harness the energy of their life force?"

"Ah, you saw a demonstration of one way we can manipulate our chakra when Whiskers created clones of himself."

"Is it possible for anyone to learn how to use their chakra in such a way?"

Tenzou shook his head even as he answered, "Yes and no; every person is born with the potential but there are several factors that determine if a person is capable of molding their chakra. The main factor is a person's age; the older a person is, the less of a chance there is that they can learn to mold their chakra with any chance of doing so ending once a person has finished going through puberty. Additionally, there are a handful of childhood illnesses that can have an adverse affect on the development of a person's chakra network; deforming their coils, restricting their pathways, or blocking the chakra nodes spread throughout their body."

"Another factor is a person's ancestry; the child from a long line of active chakra users will find it far easier to use their chakra and will usually end up with larger than average chakra reserves while a child born to a long line of civilians will often struggle to mold their chakra and potentially have smaller than average reserves. On top of that, a person's health, physical fitness, and intellectual acuity will directly affect a person's chakra network, reserves, and control. An example would be a sickly child being incapable of producing enough physical energy for them to use their chakra without killing themselves."

"I guess that means you're far too old to learn a new trick, Moony," Black barked with a soft snigger before an annoyed look from Lupin shut him up.

"And Har… Haruo has the ability to sense a person's life force?"

"Yes."

"Fascinating, I wonder if that ability includes the capacity to allow him to sense a person's magic as well," Lupin mused as his gaze returned to the nine year old on the couch. The scarred Trueborn then shook his head and stated, "That's something we can to look into later. For now, Haruo; has there ever been another time when you felt any chest pains at all or even just a tightness in your chest either just before or just after an outburst of accidental magic?"

"No."

"That's good news, at least. Now, according to what Kuma told us, you'd exhausted yourself twice while you were gone; were those the only two times you had an outburst of accidental magic while you were out of the village or did you have a bunch of little outbursts before or in between the two that had exhausted you?"

"I only had one little one when our jerk-faced teammate made me mad and that was before I exhausted myself the first time," Haruo admitted in a contrite tone that Tenzou knew was for his sake; that particular outburst against his teammate (and the little squabble that had preceded it) was the main reason that Haruo was currently grounded, after all.

"And did you have a lot of outbursts growing up?"

"Not really, not after sensei-nii brought me home anyway. I used to have lots when I was still living with _them_."

"Them? Are you referring to the Dursleys? Or are you referring to the orphanage you lived in?"

"The Dursleys," Haruo replied in a clipped voice that held a trace of distaste that Tenzou knew was entirely due to his former guardians being brought up.

"_Stupid muggle trash,_" Black grumpily groused in English.

"Behave, Padfoot," Lupin reflexively ordered without even looking in the other man's direction. "Haruo, thank you for answering my questions. I only have one more I need to ask before I scan your core. Can you tell me what you have been taught about a wizard's, or as you know it, a Trueborn Sage's magical core?"

"The toads said that a Trueborn's core is located in their heart and that it holds their 'mahou'."

"That's essentially correct even if it is a rather simplistic description. Still, that you are aware of the basic location and function of a magical core makes it much easier for me to explain the spells that I'll be casting on you. But first, I think it would be best to explain why I need to cast those spells on you. You see, until a wizard reaches their eleventh birthday, their magical core is rather… delicate because it's still developing and it's very easy to stress a developing core to the point where the core is permanently damaged."

"The most common way a young wizard can stress their magical core, aside from trying to cast spells when they're too young, is through a large number of large-scale outbursts of accidental magic brought on by extreme emotions; usually when they're frightened or angry. And the more magic that the child expends during each outburst, the greater the chance that they'll stress their core; that's especially true when they have many such outburst over a short period of time. When a child's core is under enough stress, then his or her core could potentially collapse or rupture."

"What does it mean for a Trueborn's core to collapse or rupture?" Haruo asked when Lupin stopped speaking in order to take a drink of water.

"A collapsed core means they lose their magic and a ruptured core is certain death," Black bluntly answered in Lupin's place and Tenzou wasn't certain if he should be annoyed with the man for his candidness or appreciate the fact that he hadn't tried to sugarcoat his explanation. "And one of the most common symptoms of a core that is on the verge of collapsing or rupturing is severe chest pain just before or just after an outburst of accidental magic."

"Does that mean I destroyed my core when I got angry after I thought the ice-teme killed Naruto? Does that mean I'm going to die soon?" Haruo asked in a quiet voice that cracked with emotion.

Naruto voiced a wordless protest as soon as the word 'die' had passed through Haruo's lips and clutched Haruo close as if he could prevent the younger boy's death by touch alone. Black gave a sort of pained whimper and transformed into his dog form in response to Haruo's rather unsettling question regarding his own death. Tenzou knew his face was probably more than a little pale beneath his mask; the idea that his son might be dying more than a little unpleasant due to how close his son had been to death on at least two occasions since he'd graduated from the Academy.

"No, but we are very concerned that you might have stressed your core after you exhausted your core twice in such a short period of time," Lupin hurriedly countered as he too looked a little troubled by Haruo's automatic assumption that the worst had happened. "If your core had ruptured, you would not have survived more than a week. So, it's safe to say that you aren't dying from a ruptured core."

"Yokatta," Naruto breathed out with obvious relief as he slumped against Haruo.

"Okay. Does that mean we're done here and we can go now?"

"No, I still have to check the current state of your magical core," Lupin replied as he climbed to his feet. "If I can get you to come here, I'll do that now."

Haruo grumbled under his breath as he reluctantly untangled himself from Naruto's arms and Tenzou would have found his son's antics amusing if the situation hadn't been so serious. The nine year old was standing just within arm's reach of Lupin just seconds later and it took a considerable amount of willpower for Tenzou not to tense his muscles when Lupin raised his wand until it was pointing directly at Haruo's heart. Haruo was far less disciplined though and his son shifted nervously on his feet while trying to subtly lean away from the carved stick.

"Please try to relax, Haruo; you have my word that I will not harm you," Lupin murmured in what most people would classify as a reassuring tone. "Once I start, I'm also going to need you to hold still until I tell you your free to move or else the spell won't work properly."

Haruo twitched uncomfortably a couple of times before he settled down and held himself still as requested. Tenzou felt rather proud of his son's ability to push passed his fear on request like that but wished it hadn't been necessary to teach his son to control his emotions like that. The Tokubetsu Jounin pushed the guilt he felt for basically raising his son as a child soldier to the back of his mind as Lupin began chanting under his breath as he occasionally flicked and twirled his wand as the tip of the magical focus began to glow a faint pinkish-red in color.

At the end of the little ritual, a beam of pinkish-red light erupted from the wand and struck Haruo in the heart. Haruo's shoulders briefly tensed in response to the upsurge of energy around him but otherwise held himself in place instead of reflexively trying to dodge the spell. The nine year old twitched once in response to being hit by the light before he stood still once more. A moment later, a cloud of pinkish-red mist poured out of Haruo's chest to hang in front of the Genin as it formed into a perfect replica of a child-sized human heart.

Lupin then began muttering incantations under his breath as his wand danced through the air and bounced between pointing at Haruo and pointing at the pinkish-red cloud in front of the child. Each successive spell cast on Haruo caused a series of small changes in the mist in front of him and by the time Lupin stopped casting, the mist-cloud looked much different that it had when it had first formed; the color had darkened to a murky maroon, the shape had shifted into something vaguely cylindrical, and it was covered in a web of pale blue threads that was broken in places.

The moment Black saw the end results of the spell, he began growling in obvious anger and Tenzou's clone didn't hesitate to wrap the man-turned-dog up in a beam of wood to prevent him from attacking. The large orange dog (his fur still died from earlier) snarled and gnawed at the beam binding him but Tenzou ignored the Trueborn's attempts to break free as he focused on Lupin instead; the ANBU-teichou noting the pinched look on the man's face and the slight pallor to his skin – a clear indication that he was unhappy with the results.

"_Padfoot, knock it off and calm down!_" Lupin sharply ordered in English as he briefly pulled his eyes away from the mist shape hovering in front of Haruo in order to meet the dog's gaze. The werewolf than turned back to Tenzou and switched back to Japanese as he stated, "You can let him go now; he'll behave himself. He's just upset by the results."

Tenzou ignored the comment about releasing Black (he wasn't about to risk the man losing further control of himself with Haruo in the room) and asked, "What did you learn that has the two of you so upset?"

"Is there something wrong with Haruo?" Naruto demanded immediately on the heels of Tenzou's question.

"Haruo is fine," Lupin stated as he wearily ran his left hand over his face while keeping his wand pointed at the mist-cloud hovering in front of Haruo. "However, there are a couple of unexpected… complications that were revealed by the diagnostic charm I cast."

"What kind of complications?" Tenzou demanded as he snapped his hand out to grab hold of Naruto's shoulder in order to prevent the blond from tackling Haruo when Lupin had yet to give his son permission to move again; meaning the man's spell was still active.

"Someone bound aspects of Harry's… sorry, Haruo's magical core," Lupin revealed and Tenzou scowled beneath his mask over the faint implication that anyone in Konoha could have done such a thing. "And since he's been here with you for the last six, almost seven, years it means that his core had been bound when he was still a baby."

Okay, that made a little more sense but that still didn't make him any happier about learning that another Trueborn had bound Haruo's core when they'd been explicitly warned not to do so. Then again, it was possible that additional bindings could have exacerbated the problem and that that was why they had been given the warning. Pushing his agitation aside for the moment, Tenzou refocused on the matter at hand and fished for more information as he commented, "It was my understanding that binding a Trueborn's core was fatal."

"It can be, yes; if the core is fully bound. The bindings that were placed on Harr… Haruo's core were intended to lock away specific abilities and reduce the amount of magic he could access; not seal his core completely. Even placing a partial binding on the magical core of a child can cause undue stress to the child's developing core though; especially if they are placed in a caustic environment where they experience high levels of emotional distress. In Haruo's case, the stress of the partial binding destabilized and warped his core."

Haruo twitched in response to Lupin's answer and the mist construct hovering in front of him rippled a couple of times in response to the movement before it settled the moment Haruo stilled once more. Tenzou eyed his son in concern for a moment before he returned his gaze to Lupin and asked, "Was the damage done to his core permanent? And if so, what will that mean for my son?"

"No, the damage isn't permanent. Had the bindings remained intact until his eleventh birthday, then the damage would have been irreversible. The bindings on his core were broken fairly recently though. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the 'snapping' feeling Haruo felt in his chest during his mission was the feel of the bindings being broken and the chest pain he felt in the wake of the bindings breaking would have been caused by his core flexing and stretching for the first time in years."

"How do you know all that, old man?" Naruto inquired as he tried to wriggle free of Tenzou's hold.

"The spell I cast on Har… Haruo created an exact replica of what his core currently looks like and the appearance of his core tells me what is wrong with it. For example, I know that Haruo's core was warped because it has a cylindrical shape instead of a more natural spherical shape. The color of his core tells me that his core is still fairly stressed out while the dimness of the color tells me that his core is slightly unstable and having difficulties drawing in magic. And lastly, the broken webbing of lines represents the broken bindings on his core."

"But you can fix all of that, right?"

"No, I can't," Lupin answered with a shake of his head. "However, Haruo's core can and will fix itself in time now that the bindings have been broken."

"What of the remnants of the binding that are still present on Haruo's core? Are those going to be a problem?" Tenzou asked as he relaxed slightly upon learning that Haruo's core was capable of healing itself with time.

"Yes, they could be a potential problem; since the bindings can be repaired so long as those exist. However, if you could see fit to finally release Sirius, then he can come over here and remove them to prevent that from happening. And before you ask, no; I can't maintain my spell and remove them at the same time and if I drop the diagnostic spell, then it would be far more difficult to remove the remnants because I'd no longer be able to see them."

Tenzou grimaced beneath his mask in response to that even as he signaled for his clone to let the dog go. Black shook himself out as soon as he was free before he transformed back to his human self and shot dirty looks at both Tenzou and his clone before he drew his wand and gingerly approached Haruo with his wand carefully pointed at the floor.

"_Try to hold still, kiddo; this is going to feel rather weird,_" Black instructed in English as he set the tip of his wand against Haruo's heart.

Tenzou had squash the urge he felt to put a kunai through Black's heart in response to the clear danger presented by the weapon lightly resting against his son's heart. He knew the man was supposed to be helping Haruo but that didn't mean he liked seeing his son in such a vulnerable position. Naruto was also less than pleased with the new development if the way he'd clenched his fists and strained against Tenzou's hand was any indication. And the brief spike in Haruo's chakra clearly said his son felt as vulnerable as he looked.

That Haruo didn't so much as flinch in response to said vulnerability spoke volumes for his son's self-control though and Tenzou was rather proud of him for not panicking.

The moment Black began his spell casting, Tenzou pushed his desire to maim and kill to the back of his mind as he carefully observed the process Black used to remove the remnants of the bindings on Haruo's magical core. If it wasn't for the visual that Lupin was still providing, Tenzou would not believe that the little twirls and sharp flicks of the man's wand between each tap of the wand's tip against Haruo's heart was doing anything. The mist-cloud in front of Haruo allowed him to see the way each twirl collected a strand of the binding and each flick pulled it free of Haruo's core.

It was also didn't escape his notice that the process of removing the remnants was causing his son no little discomfort; his son had grown tense, his breathing had turned shallow and jagged, and his clone could clearly see the sweat beading on Haruo's brow. The fact that Haruo hadn't made even a token attempt to squirm away from Black to escape the discomfort he felt was more than a little surprising. Then again, Haruo was used to holding himself still in the face of pain whenever he had an injury that Tokage had needed to heal.

And wasn't that just a depressing thought? His son's current self-discipline had been forged through pain.

The only consolation Tenzou could take from that knowledge was the fact that most of Haruo's injuries over the past six years had been fairly minor bar the ones he'd gained during the Mizuki Incident. Still, scraps, bruises, minor burns, and hairline fractures didn't exactly tickle and Haruo had always been the adventurous sort; his son constantly chasing after Naruto no matter where he went. Of course, it hadn't been the chasing so much as the climbing that had led to most of Haruo's childhood injuries; or rather the falling when his little hands had slipped while he was climbing.

It would take Black roughly twelve minutes to remove every single strand of the bindings on Haruo's core and by the time he was finished, all three Trueborns looked rather exhausted. Black still had more than enough energy to turn Haruo and his clothes bright pink in retaliation for the orange treatment that the two boys had given him earlier. Tenzou didn't know if he should applaud the man for sneaking that in or if he should whap him upside the head for it since the return prank was bound to motivate his son into finding a way to get the man back.

"You're free to move now, Harry," Lupin tiredly informed the nine year old as he finally lowered his wand before he shuffled backwards to drop down onto the couch while Black just flopped down on the floor where he'd been standing.

Haruo let out a sigh of relief and immediately bounded back over to the couch Tenzou was still half perched on so he could bury himself into Naruto's side. The blond automatically latched onto the younger boy while he inspected Haruo's bright pink hair before he commented, "Nice color change, fleabag; but orange would have looked better."

"Nuh-uh; green's the best!" Haruo protested from Naruto's side; his voice muffled due to the way his face was pressed up against the older boy's ribs. "Being pink sucks though!"

"_Yeah, well, I would have preferred red myself but I'm stuck as a walking orange; so deal,_" Black snarked back as he picked at his died clothes with distaste.

"Well, at least you can pass as Sakura's little brother now," Naruto consolingly informed Haruo as he patted him on the back. "You know, if she had pink skin and wore pink clothes all the time."

"Ne, ne; can one of you old men turn Naruto purple?" Haruo inquired as he peeled his face off of his friend and sent a hopeful look at the two tuckered out Trueborns; his question drawing a wordless protest from the blond.

"_Let me catch my breath and I'd be happy to take care of that for you, pup,_" Black promised around a bark of laughter.

Tenzou briefly wondered if he should step in and stop any future shenanigans that the children might come up with if given half a chance (and yes, he was including Black as one of the immature) before he decided against it. His son was still obviously nervous and unsettled by what had just happened and it wasn't like either of the boys were doing anything they'd been forbidden from doing while they were grounded. And allowing them to prank their current target meant there was less of a chance of them plotting something big once they were off of restriction.

And no, it had nothing to do with the fact that Tenzou enjoyed watching the boys prank Mr. Black or each other.

Honestly.

Once he'd made the decision not to nip the promised prank in the bud, Tenzou directed the conversation back to the original topic when he asked, "How will the removal of the binding remnants affect Haruo and his core?"

"His chest will probably ache for a day or two and he'll feel rather tired due to the process siphoning off a significant amount of his magic as each thread of the binding was pulled free of his core due to the way the bindings had been tied to his magic in order to fuel the bindings," Lupin answered as he shifted into a more comfortable position. "He'll also need to avoid having any accidental outbursts during the recovery period as any new outbursts could further stress his core and drag his recovery out needlessly."

"Will physical exertion affect his recovery?"

"It could; if he were to push himself too hard and since it could potentially trigger an internalized burst of magic to heal the physical stress he incurred. It would probably be best if he limits himself to light exercise for the next two days."

"Did you hear that, Haruo?"

"Aa, sensei-nii," Haruo automatically replied before he asked, "Ano… what am I supposed to tell Iruka-sensei? He's been having us spar against his students every afternoon."

"I will inform him of your new medical restrictions when I escort the two of you to the Academy this afternoon."

"_Whoa, hold on a minute; why are you going to be escorting my godson anywhere?_" Sirius demanded as he shoved himself up from the undignified puddle he'd collapsed into earlier. "_You promised me a full twenty-four hours with him!_"

"I did no such thing, Black-san," Tenzou corrected as he sent the man an unimpressed look. "I flat out told you that Haruo would be performing a stint of community service in the afternoons all week long. I also told you that it was up to Haruo to decide whether or not he would make any changes to his previous plans in order to make time to visit with you. The only reason I didn't allow him to put off meeting with you today was due to my concerns about his core; concerns, I might add, that were valid given what Lupin-san discovered."

"_I was still promised twenty-four hours with him before Scar-Face cornered him with his blasted offer!_"

"True; but it was never specified that those twenty-four hours had to be consecutive," Tenzou pointedly drawled and he couldn't help but feel rather smug when Black spluttered incoherently in response to his taunt.

"You know, I get that you don't particularly like us and I'm sure you have a valid reason for said dislike but could you please refrain from riling _Padfoot_ up?" Lupin requested in a slightly annoyed tone. "You're not the one that's going to have to sit and listen to his bitching later."

"S'not very professional of you to taunt your clients, Koneko-chan," Naruto chided with obvious amusement and Tenzou had to repress the urge he felt to palm his face in response to the two boys witnessing his unprofessional behavior but damn if he hadn't enjoyed tweaking the childish Trueborn's nose.

"What other complications can Haruo expect to face as a result of his core being partially bound for a minimum of between six and seven years?" Tenzou inquired instead of acknowledging Naruto's teasing chastisement or Lupin's annoyed rebuke.

The werewolf shot him an annoyed look in response to the obvious evasion before he rolled his eyes and replied, "His core will be easily stressed if he has a high number of accidental outbursts or if he manages to exhaust himself with a large enough outburst. Aside from that, I expect he'll experience mild discomfort from time to time as his core slowly shifts back into its natural shape; that would be especially true in the wake of an accidental outburst."

"How long will it take for his core to reshape itself?"

"Weeks, possibly months but I expect that his core will fully heal itself by the time he reaches his eleventh birthday so long as he doesn't do anything to stress it further between now and then. I'd need to scan his core at least once a week for at least two months to chart the changes in his core before I can say with any certainty how long it will take for it to fully heal though."

Tenzou let out a noncommittal hum in response to the werewolf's claim; he suspected that the biggest reason for the proposed weekly meetings had more to do with forcing Haruo into contact with the two men than it did with the necessity for Lupin to chart the recovery of Haruo's core. He contemplated calling the man out but decided that it would serve no point aside from potentially alienating the two men and weekly checkups to make certain that Haruo's core was actually healing wasn't a bad idea.

Besides, there were more important things he needed to know and with that in mind, he asked, "Do you know who placed the bindings on his core and when it might have been done aside from sometime before I collected him from England?"

"The bindings would have been placed at some point after Lily and James had been killed but prior to his placement with the Dursleys," Lupin informed him after thinking about the questions for a moment. "Unfortunately, it's been far too long since the bindings were cast to tell who it was who had cast them; their signature had been far too entangled with Haruo's magical signature after his core had powered the bindings for so long. My best guess though would be that the binder had been Albus Dumbledore or Madam Pomfrey, the dedicated healer for _Hogwarts_."

"And do you have an idea as to why either of those individuals would have done so?"

"I have no idea what might have motivated Dumbledore, if he had been the one to place the bindings, but if it had been Madam Pomfrey who had partially bound his core, then she would have only done it to protect Haruo. As a certified Healer, Madam Pomfrey took oaths that would have prevented her from causing intentional harm to any patient and you can not bind a wizard's core accidentally."

"Under what circumstances would the potential hazards involved in the binding of a Trueborn's core be considered an acceptable level of risk for the sake of treatment?" Tenzou inquired with an unseen frown.

"If the child's life was in danger from an inherited ability that they were far too young to control, then the ability would be sealed until the child was old enough to consciously control it in order to prevent them from over-stressing their core or dying of magical exhaustion. Another possibility would be if the child's ability poses a clear threat to others or if the child's ability could potentially break the Statute of Secrecy in the event that a non-magical witnessed the child using the ability and Haruo was placed with non-magicals at the time of his parents' deaths."

"What abilities of Haruo's were you aware of back then that might have been the target of the bindings?"

"The only one I can think of would have been his ability to tame almost any animal he came into contact with. Another potential reason for the bindings could have been an injury that Haruo had obtained on the night that James and Lily died. I was never given an opportunity to read any medical reports generated from that night so I don't know if he had been injured or how those injuries might have been treated. There's also the report of him being hit by the Killing Curse to consider since such dark magic would have had a negative impact upon his core."

"Is it possible for the bindings to have affected Haruo's chakra coils? Or as you'd referred to it earlier, his life force coils; basically the source of a person's life force?"

"Actually, we call the source of our life force a wellspring, not coils," Lupin absently corrected as he leaned back to against the back of the couch while he thought about the question for a moment. He then replied, "To answer your question; yes, some bindings can affect a person's wellspring of life force. That's especially true in the cases where the ability that's being locked away is partially linked to a person's life force; such as with the animagus transformation."

Tenzou nodded in response as he immediately drew the conclusion that the bindings on Haruo's core had potentially been aimed towards his Mokuton due to the fact that some aspects of his son's Mokuton had been sealed; such as his ability to grow beams of pure chakra. And he could easily imagine that the wizards would not want his son walking around with a bunch of beams growing out of his various body parts. They had not been able to seal away his Mokuton entirely though.

He also suspected that the constant use of the aspects of his Mokuton not affected by the bindings on his core had weakened the bindings since Haruo could grow clones and puppets in addition to manipulating plant matter. And his son had struggled when he first learned how to make clones. At the time, he'd attributed it to the fact that growing clones was actually meant to be harder than growing beams of wood. However, if the bindings specifically targeted the ability to grow beams, then it stood to reason that that aspect of the Mokuton would've been the most affected by the bindings.

Pleased to have that particular mystery cleared up, Tenzou redirected his thoughts once more and inquired, "Earlier, when you first announced the results of your technique, you said that Haruo's core had been destabilized on top of being warped by the bindings. Can you please explain what that means for my son and what kind of affect it will have on his recovery?"

Surprisingly, it wasn't Lupin who answered this time but Black.

"_It basically means that his core is struggling to produce magic and the magic is does produce can be imbalanced. So, you can expect him to have extreme mood swings and a few lapses in judgment since the imbalance screws with your perception of right and wrong. Unless he finds a suitable anchor with a large pool of wild energy to latch onto, that is. Of course, if he were to find such an anchor, pulling him away from it would be nigh on impossible since he'd fight the separation to the bitter end because we __**don't**__ like feeling off-balance and out of sorts._"

"_What exactly is an anchor and what is it that an anchor does to balance a Trueborn's destabilized core?_" Tenzou demanded as he straightened up and snapped his head to the side where his son was currently half-dozing, as he snuggled into Naruto's side while he recalled just how tightly Haruo had clung to Naruto through the years.

"_An anchor is anything that 'grounds' a wizard when their magic is unbalanced; it gives them something to focus on outside of the vague sense of wrongness they instinctively feel in their magic while it is out of balance. The ideal anchor for each person varies but it's usually a person, place, or thing that has an overabundance of wild energy since it's the absorption of that energy that helps balance their magic until their core stabilizes. My anchor was always Prongs and it was his larger than average wellspring of life force that grounded me right up until he died._"

That confession regarding Haruo's stepfather explained much about Black's current state of mind and Tenzou made a mental note to pass that information on to Inoichi just in case Black hadn't mentioned it to the Yamanaka during one of their therapy sessions. On top of that, it finally allowed him to understand just why Haruo had clung to Naruto so tightly over the past six years and why he'd 'snapped' when that 'anchor' had disappeared from his senses. Lily had probably known that Haruo's first friend would be his anchor; hence the reason for the warning her spirit had given Inoichi.

"_Is there a way you can determine just how long Haruo's core has been unstable? And what it was that caused his core to destabilize?_" Tenzou asked as he returned his gaze to Black.

"_Not with any certainty but based on the color his core appeared during Moony's diagnostic spell, I'd say his core had been unstable for months, at least; if not years since it looked nearly as bad as my core looked when I was still living with my oh-so-loving parents. Why do you ask?_"

"_Based on your earlier explanation, I suspect that Haruo latched onto Naruto as an anchor within hours of their first meeting and any attempts to separate them saw Haruo lashing out at the ones attempting said separation._"

"_It wouldn't surprise me if the partial bindings on his core had destabilized his core from the moment it had been placed on him,_" Lupin interjected at that point. "_The fact that he'd been placed in an unhappy environment immediately after the traumatic events on the night his parents died and most likely after the bindings had been put in place would have exacerbated the imbalance to the point where he desperately latched onto the first potential anchor he encountered. Or he could have sought out the strongest possible anchor; since you would have likely qualified as an anchor as well._"

"_Even if it wasn't the bindings that destabilized his core; their presence would've prevented his core from restabilizing itself even with a proper anchor to ground him,_" Black added as soon as Lupin stopped speaking. "_The constant pressure of the bindings restricting the amount of magic he could access and suppressing even just one of his abilities would have prevented his core from stabilizing and left his magic unbalanced each time he was separated from his anchor._"

There was no doubt in Tenzou's mind now that that was exactly what had happened to his son. Haruo's recent behavior (his absolute refusal to allow Naruto out of his sight when his team had first returned home) strongly supported that conclusion. It also explained why Haruo's personality changed so much after he'd befriended Naruto and why he tended to be rather moody when he spent any time away from his friend. Although, part of him feared that it wasn't actually Naruto that was his son's anchor but the Kyuubi since the bijuu was the strongest source of wild energy in all Konoha.

Oh, Kasai was _not_ going to be happy with him or Haruo once Tenzou gave him a report on everything he learned today.

* * *

**Translations:** English to Japanese

Aa – yes  
Ano – um/uh/er  
Ne, ne – one way of getting someone's attention, can be a sort of childish way of saying Hey, hey  
Yokatta – an expression of relief, usually translates as 'I'm so glad' or 'thank goodness!'

* * *

**AN:** _I've __**finally**__ managed to finish this chapter (Moony and Padfoot were giving me issues) and I've started the next one but Naruto is acting up now because he apparently didn't get enough screen time in this chapter. So, I don't know when I'll have the next chapter ready for posting (it has less than a thousand words right now). I am working on chapters for my other stories though and hope to have something else to post within the next couple of days. _

_Before I go, I'd just like to thank everyone for their patience while I got my stuff together. For those of you who aren't one of my patrons and who haven't stopped by my author's page and therefore don't know what I've been up to, I've actually been writing, just not on any of my currently posted stories. In fact, I wrote over 240,000 words on a new HP/SAO crossover that's now roughly half finished but I won't be posting that yet until either it's finished or until I complete one of the current WIPs on this site. _

_I've also been dealing with some health issues (nothing serious, just a few things that make it hard to write) and nursing my kitty back to health again. I'm fine… just need to see a specialist for a diagnosis in order to get the proper meds (that should be happening soon). Koko, my kitty (the keyboard menace) is doing better now; there was a point when I wasn't certain she was going to make it through the night though. Of course, in the process of getting her health back up, she's reestablished dominance over my desk and she's now pretty much a permanent feature here. _

_With a bed and everything. _

_Damn spoiled cat. _

_Anyway, last note before I go; for those of you looking to contact me through PM, I apologize for ignoring you. I'd been answering PMs right up until I got harassed by another couple of people. And if you haven't heard from me and haven't gotten a message that you've been blocked, then you're not the person I'm referring to. I'm seriously considering just turning off the PM feature because I'm tired of dealing with that kind of crap. If I do, then those of you whom I used to regularly chat with will be given an alternate means of contacting me before I shut it down. _

_In any case, I'm not touching any more PMs until I can look at the page without my anxiety kicking in. I'm anti-social on the best of days and I don't deal with negativity very well and when I have negativity rammed down my throat I tend to shut off completely because it screws with my head. Needless to say, I have issues enough without others jerks adding to it. So, please don't PM me right now; cause I'm not answering. I'm ignoring everyone because two people decided to be mean. I'll fix that eventually. Maybe. Once I can think about reading messages without my stomach rebelling._

_Sorry for the rant, I'll shut up now. I'll also probably come back and delete note this after a while. Oh, I forgot, I updated all thirty-five of the previous chapters (took me three hours too) with edits to fix a few things that I missed the first dozen times through them. For those of you who pointed out my mistakes, thank you. I think I caught them all but I can't be sure. I'll probably edit again next year anyway. ~ Jenn_


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